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Circulation(s): A survey of works in the exhibition

Circulation(s): A survey of works in the exhibition

Starting April 20, the Circulation(s) Festival is coming to occupy Le Centquatre in Paris. This event aims to promote young European photographers. We bring you a preview of some must-see works.

Hélène Bellenger’s colorful masks

In the early 20th century models photographed in the studio environment had their faces heavily made-up and covered with vivid colors. Eyes shaded in blue, red lips, green cheeks…: their faces were like strange, colorful masks. Even if the resulting photograph was black and white, it was necessary to apply makeup to the model’s face in order to emphasize certain areas and produce the best, the most appealing image possible. Hélène Bellenger revisits these photographs and colors them according to the makeup that would have been used at the time. She reveals the layers of color applied to the faces, highlighting their likeness to clowns or mimes.


Right color © Hélène Bellenger

The “hidden faces” by Mathieu Farcy

Terrifying faces, forever maimed by the horrors of trench warfare… The “broken faces” of the First World War will always haunt our memory and remind us of armed violence and the inhuman effects of industrial warfare… In order to let us see them differently, Mathieu Farcy decided to hide the wounds of those “broken faces” (“gueules-cassées”) with a wide black band. We can thus both imagine the wound and, at the same time, have an idea who the wounded person was without reducing them to their wound. Instead, Farcy helps us to see them as human beings who had suffered the atrocities of a mutilating war and who struggled in their new life to become again what they once were.


Chers à canon © Mathieu Farcy

Sina Niemeyer’s therapeutic photography

The German photographer decided to confront personal childhood trauma; she had been a victim of sexual abuse perpetrated by an adult. Her series Für mich represents the quest of a young woman searching for her own self shattered by the trauma resulting from this abuse. She speaks directly to her abuser: “You taught me how to be a butterfly only to break my wings.” In Niemeyer’s project, photography engages in an intense therapeutic process, serving both as an outlet and as a personal document that testifies to the immense effort of psychological and physical restoration.


Für mich. Tu m’as appris à être un papillon dans le seul but de me briser les ailes © Sina Niemeyer

Wooded grounds by Jaakko Kahilaniemi

One day, the Finnish photographer inherited 100 acres of land in his native country. Rather than sell it or try to make money off of it, he decided to explore the very nature of these grounds which house only clusters of trees and large clearings. Using photographic tools, he mapped it out and built an array of documents based on highly detailed studies of life on his land: the geological site, tree fragments, a history of the place…


100 Hectares of Understanding © Jaako Kahilaniemi

Emile Ducke’s medical train

There is a train in Siberia that serves as a hospital on rails. The photojournalist Emile Ducke went to Russia to photograph this subject. He shows cars converted into labs analyzing tissue and blood samples, cars with patients’ rooms, and even one containing a chapel. This is an astonishing vestige of the Soviet Union that continues to be active in one of the coldest and least accessible parts of the world.


Diagnosis © Emilie Ducke

Sad proofs by Camille Gharbi

It was under the ironic title “Proofs of love” that Camille Gharbi decided to publish a series about domestic violence. The French photographer created images of the instruments used by a husband to molest his wife: a baseball bat, a hammer, an iron… The instruments send chills down one’s spine and denounce the widespread violence which continues to be condoned and tolerated. This exceptional series will be displayed at the Gare de l’Est in Paris in partnership with the Circulation(s) Festival.

Preuves d’amour © Camille Gharbi

By Jean-Baptiste Gauvin

Festival Circulation(s)

From April 20 to June 30, 2019

Centquatre, 5 Rue Curial, 75019 Paris

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