Show. Bear witness. Denounce injustices and violations of human rights, explain what is happening on the ground, question … That is the goal of the war reporters. They exercise the profession of journalist most perilous because they must be at the heart of the action, at the cost of their freedom or their lives. “If your photos are not good enough, you’re not close enough,” said Robert Capa, the legendary figure of the reporters.
Every story has a beginning. It started in 1995, in the besieged city of Sarajevo, on the filming of “The Perfect Circle” by filmmaker Ademir Kenovic. Alizé The Maoult participates. This production becomes for her an extraordinary professional and emotional experience during which she meets the “Generation Sarajevo” of war photographers. A few years later, Alizé pays tribute to dozens of people of images, all nationalities combined, whose photos appear in the press but whose faces are not known. Beyond greeting their courage, Alizé develops a visual dialogue with these outstanding witnesses. From Sarajevo to Washington, she photographed them back to the wall, right in the eye, and asked them to choose one of their photographs, which would represent the War, and put into words the reason for this choice. This conversation takes the form of poignant diptychs and face-to-face encounters.
All these heirs of Capa, went closer to the event. This succession continues to do so as you read these lines, whether in Syria or Afghanistan. What’s going on there sounds more than ever at home. The attacks of recent years in France and Paris are proof of this. Everything is connected. And everything connects us. A few blocks from here, at 37 rue Froidevaux precisely, Robert Capa, his companion Gerda Taro and their friend David Seymour said “Chim”, all photoreporters, had made the 14th district, their fallback base at the time of the war. Spain. Their studio was then a home port, a land of welcome for these citizens of the world to the universal view. Today, a commemorative plaque recalls their presence and transmits their memory. Robert, Gerda, “Chim” and their worthy descendants, like spiritual children, are our eyes, the watchmen and the scouts of our consciences in the heart of the darkness of the human condition.
Dimitri Beck
Director of Photography Polka
On November 8, 2018, a plaque was unveiled at 37 rue Froidevaux, where worked Robert Capa with Gerda Taro and David Seymour said “Chim”.
The Mairie of the 14th asked Alizé le Maoult to design a exhibition in tribute to Robert Capa and war photographers.
From her work on war photographers around the world, Alizé Le Maoult offers diptychs composed of the frontal portrait of these photographers and an image they chose from all the conflicts they covered, and their words to explain this choice. A strong and unique testimony:
“What their eyes have seen … Robert Capa’s heirs”
The Galerie du Montparnasse, 55 rue du Montparnasse, exhibition until November 30
