THE RETURNING IMAGE
ALAIN FLEISCHER
In celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the Victorine Studios, cultural exhibitions in Nice revolve around the theme of cinema. Thus, the Charles Nègre Museum of Photography is organizing an exhibition of works by Alain Fleischer, an artist with several talents. Indeed, he is simultaneously a photographer, filmmaker, and writer. The artist plays with the difference between photography and cinema, between a still image and a moving image. “Invent visibility!” he says. A moving image and a still image, two concepts of photography. Is cinema animated photography?
The artist raises this question and questions himself. This debate on the nature of the image is the central theme of this exhibition. Explaining his work and motivations, he tells us: “The essential thing is that it is moving; there is no message; these are the things of life.”
In his own way, Alain Fleischer is nostalgic for film photography. Indeed, he explains, in the past one had to wait for the print, the anxiety of a failed photo. Today, we know the result immediately. There is no longer the magic of chemical reactions, of laboratories. While modern techniques offer many advantages, they lack that anticipation, a somewhat childish dream in front of the film development. Photography is the successful fusion of technique and poetry. Always this need to be moving!
Alain Fleischer could be summed up in three words: Beauty, Strength, Imagination. The photos on display are as many poems, scripts, and books. Alain Fleischer is also a writer, and even if he says that the writer, the filmmaker, and the photographer are different, there is the same patina, the same depth. Beauty touches each photo, each contains a force, that of the soul, and imagination is always present.
Alain Fleischer is a magician, he brings to life images that are otherwise static, and they become films, the image thus animates, the film freezes. This exhibition continues until September 29. A summer not to waste idly, by coming to admire the work and art of this artist for whom photography and cinema are the guiding threads of this exhibition.
Thierry Jan
