Collection Wilson - ENG

On the occasion of the bicentennial of photography, LE BAL invites us to explore the sometimes murky or luminous, but always unstable and ultimately mysterious bond that connects the photographer and the subject in the act of taking a photograph.

What does the image say about the relationship between the two bodies, the subject and the photographer? Complicity, face to face, a pact sealed by the gaze of one on the appearance of the other? Images taken on the spot or staged, reportage photographs, self-portraits, nude and intimate scenes, collaborative exchanges between model and photographer: what does the image of the subject captured on film say, what does it reveal about the space between the two? What does the subject reveal to the photographer's retina and the mechanical eye of the lens?
This immersion in Michael G. Wilson's prestigious collection, which explores the representation of the body and the space between the photographer and their subject, offers numerous insights into the history of the medium in the 20th century, as well as a whole range of relationships that develop between bodies, gazes, and gestures. Presented in a non-thematic manner, in order to highlight chance encounters, connections, and affinities, this selection of over one hundred photographs brings together historical masters and contemporary figures without hierarchy. Each double page becomes a picture rail: the anxious gaze of Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, photographed by Alexander Rodchenko, confronts the giant hands captured by August Sander; a portrait of a woman by André Kertész faces a sculptural nude by Imogen Cunningham; Frida Kahlo's fragile booted prosthesis, abandoned at the bottom of an unlikely bathtub, photographed by Ishiuchi Miyako, faces a powerful tattooed male back captured by Graciela Iturbide. These confrontations, sometimes "surreal,' awaken our gaze and question our perceptions. This visual journey is punctuated by short texts, words from photographers, which create a kind of subtext and sketch out a sensitive journey unfolding like a musical score.