culmann olivier the others - tendance...
TRANSCRIPT
Erwin Blumenfeld
de Vogue US, 1er janvier 1951
© The Estate of Erwin Blumenfeld, collection
Olivier Culmann The Others October 17 th 2015 ... January 17 th 2016Opening Friday October 16 th / 7 pm
Olivier Culmann The OthersOlivier Culmann presents us
with a strange portrait gallery.
The Indian man appears in many forms
before our eyes without ever revealing
his true identity…
Olivier Culmann began to shoot
this series between 2009 and 2011,
when he was living in Delhi, and kept
shooting up until 2013. The Others
will be presented in full for the first
time at the Musée Nicéphore Niépce.
In a series that includes over
130 photographs, the photographer
questions the way in which social
status is elaborated through
the construction of self-image
and explores the limits of the photo-
graphic medium.
The Others is an examination of the codes
of Indian society and their modes
of representation. The photographer’s
basic material is a series of self-portraits.
In each one, Olivier Culmann applies
the visual and sartorial specifics
that define each Indian to himself.
In a society as compartmentalised as
India’s, he means to highlight the variety
of elements that make up the identity
of an individual : religion, caste, class,
profession, geographical origin…
The portraits are split in four phases,
according to the different iconographic
creative processes in India: neighbourhood
photography studios, Photoshop used
by digital labs, painting…
[ See the descriptions of the photo series
in the attached file ]
This exhibition was co-produced
with Tendance Floue
and Central DUPON Images.
With support from Canson,
Olympus France,
Ministère de la Culture
/ Drac Bourgogne,
Société des Amis
du musée Nicéphore Niépce,
La Souris sur le gâteau
and the Hôtel St Georges
in Chalon-sur-Saône.
All of the photographs
for this exhibition were printed
on Canson gloss 310 g premium paper
in the laboratory
at the Musée Nicéphore Niépce.
A tie-in book is available
from Editions Xavier Barral.
Meeting with Olivier Culmann
in his exhibition
Saturday October 17 / 3:30 pm
Olivier Culmann The OthersExtracts: Clothing oneself is no longer a functional
necessity for humans, and has not been
since time immemorial. The act of clothing
oneself has transmuted into a game
ruled by social convention. Appearance
decides, even configures the real.
The fictional lives that follow one another
in the New Delhi studio are no more
illusory than the “real” pseudo-images
that come before. Faced with these
decorated scenes, the only
“incontestable”’ objects, we rediscover
the consistency of likelihood. By playing
with pretending, the photographer
exhumes the weight of destiny that covers
us. The shapes, colours and textures
are all signals we address to our peers;
the ones we want to stand out from!
Faced with the inevitable, we put
on the rags and adopt the attitude that
others have determined for us.
Each photograph, or more to the point,
each scene, is an event that is both
derisory and perfectly apt. The portraits
compose a collection of short stories.
They do not pretend to reduce the different
components of the Indian population
to farce, but merely to reflect the spirit
of the times. In the harsh light
of the studio, these reconstituted lives
rise above a reality that is never
recognisable and is always unintelligible.
In the knowledge that we are aware
of the state of the world, rather than
giving us the same photographic
narrative on the Indian sub-continent,
Olivier Culmann
The Others
Éditions Xavier Barral
Bound and covered
21.5 x 26.3 cm
196 pages
Approx. 140 colour photographs
Texts :
Christopher Pinney,
lecturer in anthropology and visual
culture at London’s University College,
François Cheval,
Director of the Musée Nicéphore Niépce
and Christian Caujolle,
Associate Lecturer at the École
Nationale Supérieure Louis Lumière,
critic, independent curator.
Olivier Culmann gives us his fugitive
impressions. Freed from the weight
of the past, his portrait-prototypes are
notations, better, as narratives.
The various elements of the image are
clues to interpret and to bring
the spectator closer to others in the hopes
that they will end up with a fabric
of hypotheses at their disposal.
The apparently unrelated objects,
the poses and situations form a logical
chain to be reconstituted.
[…]
What we present to others is an ideal
of the fantasised figure, the seal
of identity. However, here, identification
is inseparable from dissimulation.
The figure’s make-up and poses redefine
the character’s visibility levels.
The subject, or the person, is in no way
a “natural” being. In this constant swing
from the norm and the search for one’s
own identity, the person attempts
to constitute him or herself into a coherent
unity. This demand for originality pushes
them to contemplate their own reflection.
The mirror becomes his digital print.
They search ceaselessly for faults,
as if trying to spot the deliberate mistake.
Anxiety reigns in this surreal world.
One hunts down the imperfections
that go against the self-image they desire
so deeply. This concern for appearances,
deliberately encouraged by merchandise,
is at odds with self-awareness,
singularity and autonomy. The particular
attention given to one’s appearance
is aided and abetted by technology.
Digital identity is built in communication
spaces where individuals contemplate
themselves in a narcissistic manner
from a closed-off space. The connection
to others remains a never to be satisfied
quest. And photography, despite its
immense ambition, can’t do a thing
about it.
[…]
François Cheval
Olivier Culmann /biographySocial conditioning and free will are
intrinsic to Olivier Culmann’s work.
Located somewhere between the absurd
and the derisory, his work puts
the question of our everyday lives
and our relationship with images under
a microscope. He always comes back
to his obsessions – and ours –, winning
us over with his sense of humour
and his talent for narrative.
1993 – 1999
In collaboration with Mat Jacob,
his Les Mondes de l’école project was
awarded the Villa Médicis Hors Les Murs
in 1997
2001
Les Mondes de l’école, published
by Éditions Marval
Une vie de poulet , published
by editions Filigranes
2003
Scam Roger Pic award for “Autour,
New York 2001– 2002” series
2004
Intouchables , published
by Editions Atlantica
2006
His “Watching TV” series was presented
at the Rencontres internationales
de la photographie d’Arles
2008
The “Les Mondes de l’école” series
is shown at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
3 rd World Press Photo prize
for his “Watching TV” series
( “contemporary subjects” category )
2011
Watching TV, published
by Éditions Textuel
“Watchers” show at the Pavillon Carré
de Baudouin in Paris
2014
The Others and Diversions series
shown at the Festival Images in Vevey,
Switzerland
2015
The Others series is shown
at the Musée Nicéphore Niépce
in Chalon-sur-Saône
The Others, published
by Editions Xavier Barral
All reproductions
must state :
© Olivier Culmann / Tendance Floue
Phase 1 :
portraits taken in a photography studio
The studios represented in these shots
are neighbourhood studios in different
Indian cities, notably in Delhi
and the surrounding regions, Chennai,
Pondicherry and Mumbai.
Available visuals /
Phase 2 :
portraits using digital equipment
In the neighbourhood studios, a range
of backdrops is often available:
a patterned curtain, a photographic mural
or a landscape painted on the wall itself.
When a client comes to have
his or her photograph taken, they can
also borrow various items of clothing
( jackets, shirts, ties…) for the duration
of the shoot. With the advent of digital
technology, backdrops are easily
created on the computer. The client,
whose silhouette is cut out in advance,
can thus choose the backdrop
( reconstituted studio backdrop, Swiss
mountain scape, Taj Mahal…) in front
of which he or she wishes to be pictured.
Photographers also offer the option
of the already well-dressed
and well-presented headless body, on
to which the client’s head can be attached
and slid into place by the retoucher/
photographer. Faceless bodies are also
available (hair and ears are part
of the package), as are various types
of headgear (hats, berets, turbans…),
hairstyles, various accessories
(armchairs, couches, bouquets
of flowers…) and frames with motifs.
The phase 2 portraits blend this digital
material with the faces on the initial
portraits.
Phase 3 :
recomposing and colouring
damaged photographs
Repairing family photographs that have
been damaged (by time, damp, ripping…)
is common practice in India.
It is often done when someone dies
to restore an emblematic photograph
of the deceased. The photo is usually
seen on the wall at home or in the family
business. It is a guarantee of filiation
and its symbolic meaning seems more
important than the actual faithful
reproduction of the ancestor’s physical
traits. In line with this practice,
Olivier Culmann gave various digital
retouching labs half a torn photo.
He then asked them to reconstitute
the face entirely and to colour the photo
as they saw fit. Some added backdrops.
Phase 4 :
paintings from photographs
Painting on photographs is common
in India, especially for shop signs
and more traditionally for film posters.
Using this skill set as a base,
Olivier Culmann gave a Delhi painter
a number of black and white photographs
and asked him to paint them in different
styles (mostly from film poster types).
Just like with the repair work, he let
the painter choose the backdrops
and the colours. The original paintings
will be on show in the exhibition.
Partners /Tendance Floue
Tendance Floue is a collective
of 13 photographers that was founded
in 1991 in order to explore the world
and work together to open up new
perspectives and diversify modes
of representation for contemporary
photography. In addition to their personal
work, the photographers also aim
to support collective photographic
research: confronting images,
assemblies, combinations, pooled work
to create new material. Press, publishing,
exhibitions, screenings… the collective
opens all doors, using all of contemporary
photography’s outlets, nothing is out
of bounds.
www.tendancefloue.net
Central DUPON Images
Central DUPON Images is a Paris-based
photography workshop that provides
a wide range of image-related services,
from high-def. retouching to traditional
prints, from digital printing to framing.
Central DUPON Images partners some
of the biggest photographic cultural
events and festivals around the world
and actively supports the encouragement
and promotion of photographic art.
www.centraldupon.com
Musée Nicéphore Niépce
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+33 [0]3 85 48 63 20 / fax
contact @ museeniepce.com
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prunephilippot @ relations-media.com
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every day
except Tuesdays and holidays,
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and 2.00 ... 5.45 pm
Free entrance
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Niépce museum
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Canson,
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exit 25 Chalon Nord
or 26 Chalon Sud
SNCF train station in Chalon
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[ 20 min. from Chalon by car ]
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[ an hour from Chalon by car ]