Raymond Depardon

The work of Raymond Depardon, a major figure in the history of photojournalism, is being featured in Gallery 3 as part of the exhibition "Remember Me". His series "La France", which looks at the roads, homes, shops, and natural environments that form the French landscape, is presented here through some fifty images from the Pinault Collection.  

In the 1980s, Raymond Depardon (b. 1942) began a long-term documentary project about France in the spirit of American photographer Walker Evans, whose work he admires greatly. He travelled across France in his van, methodically surveying the country with a large-format camera mounted on a tripod, giving himself the constraint of making just one image in each location as a way to slow down and observe things more precisely. He focused on small provincial towns, intermediary spaces that are neither completely urban nor fully rural, which had traditionally been overlooked in depictions of the country’s landscape.  

"La France" continues a documentary tradition that grapples with the notion of typology, which has become a central concern in contemporary photography. Depardon’s images are anything but cold and analytical, though; they are instead profoundly human. Beneath their apparent simplicity lies a delicate sense of humour, a careful attention to the simplest of details, and an affection for these places and the people who inhabit them. Therein lies the strength of the work, in its transformation of a methodical observation into a deeply sensitive and accurate portrait of a country. 

As the founder of the Gamma photo agency and a member of Magnum, Depardon remains a key figure in the history of photojournalism and documentary photography, both in France and internationally. Through the acuity of his gaze, his ability to “unmask” situations, and his sense of independence, Depardon exhibits a high degree of virtuosity in both his photographic projects and films. In looking at both the energy of the street and the silence of vast, open spaces, his seemingly endless quest adheres to one, simple motto: “Capture life wherever you find it ”.   

Curated by: Matthieu  Humery, photography advisor to the Pinault Collection, with the collaboration of Lola Regard, research director.