Exhibition:

Jacques Henri Lartigue Photographs

Despite living through two world wars, Lartigue never sought his subjects in the political world around him. He chose instead to cast his eye upon the familiar and personal world of fun and games, a world with which his photographs have become synonymous. The exhibition begins with a portrait of the photographer as a boy: he has an enormous smile on his face and is holding his first ever camera. From then on the world we see is presented from this child’s standpoint.

The narrative of his oeuvre is made up by a chronological collection of family albums, never aspiring for historical documentation but simply hoping to preserve individual moments in the artist’s life. There are pictures that are specific to the era; balloon races, automobile clubs and jazz singers, all indicative of the French Belle Epoque. But it is the images that portray experience outside the public domain that seem to carry more resonance for the contemporary viewer. These are the portraits of his family and friends, his lovers and wives, many of which are made into games in themselves: a cousin jumping down the steps, a figure in mid-air as he leaps for the ball.

It is hard not to respond to such images. Made with a camera that itself became Lartigue’s lifelong companion and toy, his photographs depict a truly joyous life and remind us of the apolitical potential of the medium.
PHOEBE LING