At the Filles du Calvaire Gallery, until October 19th, it is a nostalgic walk that awaits the visitor. That of the American photographer Todd Hido who proposes a beautiful set of his series House Hunting, or the fruit of an American wandering that does not hide his tormented reflection on the cohabitation between man, habitat and nature.
On a series of anonymous facades, photographed at night by an artist that we imagine discreet, almost prowling, emerge illuminated windows. They suggest an invisible human presence, whose implicit existence is made all the more mysterious as the external atmosphere is foggy. It’s impossible not to wonder about life inside. It is impossible not to be finally seized by a deep feeling of loneliness and isolation.
On the first floor, the exhibition continues with the Bright Black World series. There, the prints are larger and the landscapes take over all the space. Men’s traces have disappeared, we are in Northern Europe and climatic violence has taken over. Snow, rain, shadows and heavy clouds invade everything, crashing into the lens and distorting the image.
And yet, the light is there! Everywhere a glow persists and one can not help, for each image, to look for its source, as in a Rembrandt’s painting. A luminous halo appears, the sky turns orange, a cloud lights up, the frozen river begins to shine; and in the foggy wanderings of Todd Hido, life resists.
So, from this exhibition you will come out impressed surely, melancholic inevitably, but certainly not depressed because the light is always there, admirably mastered by the artist.
Todd Hido – Light From Within
From September 6 to October 19, 2019
Galerie des Filles du Calvaire
17, rue des Filles-du-Calvaire
75003 Paris
https://www.fillesducalvaire.com/
