Magnum, Raymond Depardon exhibition opens

Magnum presents an exhibition of the first solo exhibition of filmmaker Raymond Depardon. The exhibition runs from the 23rd of April to the 20th of June.

PRESS RELEASE

A collection of images capturing first impressions of life in some of the world’s most fascinating and populated cities will be displayed in a new exhibition at PM Gallery, the extension to architect Sir John Soane’s home, Pitzhanger Manor in Ealing, west London. Cities is the work of multi-award winning photographer and filmmaker Raymond Depardon and is the first solo exhibition of his work to be shown in the UK. Cities runs from 23 April-20 June 2010.

In 2004, Raymond Depardon began a project which would lead him to twelve cities on five continents. He intended to lose himself in each place in order to record unguarded images of people in streets, squares, shops, cafes, public transport and going about their everyday lives in a series of distinct locations. Purposely, he spent only a short time in each place to ensure that the images preserved his first impressions. At the time of his visit, each city was in some state of upheaval, increasing the sense of the subject being caught off-guard. The exhibition captures the movement of people within a great city and some fascinating aspects of life which can be taken for granted. The cities in question are Addis-Ababa, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Dubai, Johannesburg, Moscow, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Raymond Depardon began taking photographs on his family farm in Garet, France, in 1954 at the age of 12. In 1966 he co-founded the Gamma photographic agency, reporting from all over the world. From 1974 to 1977, as a photographer and filmmaker, he covered the kidnap of French ethnologist François Claustre in northern Chad. In 1974, he began to make documentary films alongside his photography career. In 1978, he joined Magnum and continued his reportage work. He has made eighteen feature-length films and published forty-seven books. In 1995, his film on the French justice system, Delits Flagrants, received a Cesar Award for best documentary and the sequel was shown as part of the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. He is working on a photographic project concerned with the ordinary events and situations of everyday life, which will be shown in autumn 2010 at the National French Library in Paris.

VISITOR INFORMATION

PM Gallery & Pitzhanger Manor, Walpole Park, Mattock Lane, Ealing, London, W5 5EQ. Exhibition Dates: 23 April – 20 June 2010. Admission is free to all visitors. Opening Times: Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm; Saturday 11am-5pm

SPECIAL EVENTS:

Photography Panel Discussion: Friday 7 May at 7.30pm. Photographer and Goldsmiths Lecturer, Paul Halliday, will chair a panel discussion with the photographers Rut Blees Luxemburg, Simon Rowe and Nick Turpin, exploring the question ‘Is There a Way of Approaching The Street?’

Doors open 7pm. Tickets: £5. Please call 020 8567 1227 to book

Gallery Tour: Saturday 15 May at 2pm. Sophie Wright, Cultural and Print Room Director at Magnum Photos, will lead an informal tour of the exhibition looking at Depardon’s main themes and ideas.

FREE – just arrive up on the day

About Depardon

Raymond Depardon, began taking photographs on his family farm in Garet at the age of 12. Apprenticed to a photographer-optician in Villefranche-sur-Saône, he left for Paris in 1958. He joined the Dalmas agency in Paris in 1960 as a reporter and in 1966 he co-founded the Gamma agency, reporting from all over the world. From 1974 to 1977, as a photographer and filmmaker, he covered the kidnap of a French ethnologist, François Claustre, in northern Chad.

Alongside his photographic career, he began to make documentary films: 1974, Une Partie de Campagne and San Clemente. In 1978 Depardon joined Magnum and continued his reportage work until the publication of Notes in 1979 and Correspondance New Yorkaise in 1981. In that same year, Reporters came out and stayed on the programme of a cinema in the Latin Quarter for seven months. In 1984 he took part in the DATAR project on the French countryside. While still pursuing his film-making career, he received the Grand Prix National de la Photographie in 1991, but his films also won recognition: in 1995 his film Délits Flagrants, on the French justice system, received a César Award for best documentary, and in 1998 he undertook the first in a series of three films devoted to the French rural world. The Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris mounted an important exhibition of his