Francoise Huguier
Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
Françoise Huguier is a French photographer whose work frequently strays into the territories of documentary, travel, art and fantasy, yet never fits into any of them. This retrospective fills almost an entire floor of the MEP and shows selections from the major exhibitions so far in her career.
The exhibition crosses many borders, both geographical and political, and examines many challenging environments, from Central Africa to Siberia, and many political themes from prostitution in the far east to the wearing of the hijab.
The exhibition crosses many borders, both geographical and political, and examines many challenging environments, from Central Africa to Siberia, and many political themes from prostitution in the far east to the wearing of the hijab.
The exhibition weaves a path between several rooms, of varying size and lighting to produce an effect that at times feels confusing, yet only until you realise that this is deliberate, almost as if Huguier has set out to force the visitor to examine, to think.
Before visiting I had been especially keen to see her work in Siberia, the physical challenge of photographing life in a Siberian Winter seems almost unthinkable, yet here large prints depicting just that. A man working in a fish processing plant wearing a gas mask to protect against the ammonia fumes from the freezing process (above), a home formed from disused railway tankers and a close up shot of a man smoking whilst consuming a meal of fish, bread and vodka (right). This is travelogue as documentary of a very muscular style. The exhibition really came to vivid life with a large section from her exhibition
Etranges Beautés (the whole exhibition was, unknown to me, running at the Polka gallery at the time I was there, I only found out from reading a review in Polka magazine on the flight back!). Huguier's portraits of women in a wide variety of circumstances is an extraordinary delight. The images range from nuns, to fashion models, to prostitutes and more. It was interesting eavesdropping as another visitor was telling her friend about how she knew Huguier and had accompanied her on a shoot, in particular how she was very fussy about lighting, would assess a scene then wait for somebody to move into it, always good to get some unusual insight. Strangely, it was this part of the exhibition that, for me, jarred slightly. One room had two series of beautifully shot portraits, one set of women in Malaysia wearing the hijab, another of colourful Malaysian fans of K-Pop in their own distinctive fashion. The comparison seemed a little too obvious, a little too laboured. Overall, an exhibition that I was delighted to see, Huguier shoots in an extraordinary range of styles, her sets often evoke Gregory Crewdson's Sanctuary, her reportage Bruce Gilden and her portrature Richard Avedon or even Rankin. As a photographer you never stop learning, and this exhibition certainly proved that, insightful, technically brilliant and real provocation of thought.
Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris. Exhibition Website: http://www.mep-fr.org/evenement/francoise-huguier-2/ Polka Gallery Exhibition Website: HERE Return to the Exhibition Visits page HERE |