Exposition : Take Off

Starting from the pioneering work of Swedish photographer Eva Klasson, who was active in Paris between 1969 and 1984, the exhibition brings together around a dozen contemporary photographers from three different generations to examine how the representation of the body in photography has evolved.

From the very first prints, almost 200 years ago, photography has always chosen the body as its subject: to preserve the memory of a person, as a means of self-promotion, to explore how it works (Edward Muybridge), or even in confrontational staged scenes, such as the feigned drowning in Hippolyte Bayard's self-portrait (1840), a man disappointed at not being recognised by the Académie des sciences as the inventor of photography. The representation of the body in photography says a great deal about our society and the way it regards not only this shell but also the human being hidden within it. Intrinsically tied to technology, photography also echoes advances in the field: digitalisation, retouching software, 3D printing, artificial intelligence… How do new technologies change our perception of the body and the body of photography itself?

It was in Paris, between 1969 and 1984, that the iconic Eva Klasson developed some of her most emblematic series, including Le Troisième Angle (1976), which was shown at the Centre Pompidou the following year, Ombilic (1977), shown at the Musée d'art moderne the same year, and Parasites (1978), shown at the Centre culturel suédois, since renamed the Institut suédois. Several of her works are now held in Swedish and French collections (MAM, MEP…), and her influence on a whole generation of Swedish photographers was considerable. Klasson is currently enjoying renewed interest in Sweden, notably through an exhibition that, after the Borås Konstmuseum, is now being shown at Mjellby Konstmuseum, curated by art historian Lotta Granqvist, who recently published her thesis on the artist. Starting from this singular body of work, the exhibition will be enriched by pieces by other photographers who explore themes close to those developed by Klasson: the body, its representation, and the act of photographing oneself.