In 1963, Jean-Louis Swiners, photo-reporter for the monthly Réalités, was sent by his editors to spend a few days on the filming of Contempt in Rome. Adapted from the famous Alberto Moravia novel by Jean-Luc Godard, the film portrays the disintegration of a couple, interpreted by Brigitte Bardot and Michel Piccoli.
For reasons unknown, Swiners’ images were not used by the magazine and remained in its archives for over fifty years, intact and kept from the public. On the advice of Thomas Consani, famous black and white printer at Central Dupon, Jean-Louis came to my gallery one Saturday with a few visuals. The quality of his story shortly lead to us finding ourselves at the photo laboratory to make a first selection and, very quickly, we worked on an exhibition!
Since its release, Contempt has been a classic of the 7th art, a masterpiece admired by the biggest cinematographers, and studied in film schools around the world.
The filming itself is that of legend. The villa Malaparte in Capri, the harassment from the paparazzi, the dialogue from the opening scene between Bardot and Piccoli (“Do you think I have a cute ass?”), the profanity of BB in the bathroom, the love story between Bardot and Sami Frey… All the ingredients were united to make this film a myth.
How many people know the story without ever having seen the film or read the book? It is a lesson in cinema that we have the pleasure to exhibit. These dream-inducing images give the illusion of being privileged witnesses to the unique time, facing Brigitte Bardot at the height of her career and of her beauty, unforgettable and deeply moving!
Julia Gragnon
Julia Gragnon is the director of Galerie de l’Instant in Paris.
Jean-Louis Swiners, Une leçon de cinéma : un certain mépris
From June 23 through September 12, 2017
Galerie de l’Instant
46, rue de Poitou
Paris 75003
France
