“Yes, I do” I didn’t think I’d be able to say those words for a good ten years. But in front of the Gérard UférasI feel the need for love and affection. Who is this man who, through sublime photographs combining color and black and white, makes me want to get married, and fast?
Gérard Uféras is first and foremost a lover of Paris. In the 80s, he began a collaboration with the newspaper Libération. By combining his two passions, photojournalism brought him numerous prestigious awards, including the Art Directors’ Award in 1987 and the Digigraphie Award in 2007. A child of Central European immigrants, love is the common thread running through all his work. For him, photography is akin to dreams and the imaginary, revealing the intimacy of human beings as ”
a plunge into reality
“.
His exhibition project was born in 2005, when he wanted to take photos of around twenty couples celebrating their union in the capital. In 2009, no fewer than 70 civil, religious and civil partnership weddings will be immortalized through his lens!
Paris d’Amour
draws up a gallery of portraits of men and women, highlighting their common ideal: love and its corollary, tolerance. The heterogeneity of the couples immortalized perfectly reflects the exceptional cohabitation of cultures that is one of the riches of Paris.
Through 170 photographs, Gérard Uféras takes us on a journey through all the stages of marriage, from the preparations to the wedding and the celebration itself, ending with the party, with one constant: each man and each woman share the same expression of unique and incomparable happiness. No moment is left untouched, from stag and hen parties to henna ceremonies, the passage before the priest or the pacs of a happy, close-knit homosexual couple.
Although customs, traditions and codes separate brides and grooms in different photographs, they all have the same gleam in their eyes when they say “I do”. New ways of getting married rub shoulders with more traditional ones, closer to those of our childhood. But a subtle blend can be discerned. Gérard Uféras could have shown just the bride and groom, but instead chose to highlight the bride and groom’s family. Here, a grandmother opens a bottle of rosé, while a father beams at his daughter’s happiness. And here, a young boy stares in amazement at the party unfolding before his eyes.
Suddenly, on a wall, sentences scroll by. The photographer also recorded the conversations he overheard during his photo shoots. Whether amusing or moving, these phrases reveal the psychological state in which newlyweds find themselves. At the end of the journey to the land of white dresses and festivities is a 26-minute film. Directed by
Pierre Schumacher
Based on photos and scenes taken during the ceremonies, and enhanced by sound material from interviews with the bride and groom before, during and after the weddings, this film bears witness to the photographer’s approach during the 2 years of reporting.
Emotions, expectations, joy, sincerity, celebration, this exhibition gives us hope. In a society where marriage can seem “has-been”, it’s good to remember the simple moments that bind so many people together. Gone are the “it-bags” and other back-to-school must-haves; the “it-wedding” is what you need to get into.
Paris D’Amour” exhibition until August 14, 2010.
Hôtel de Ville – 29 rue de Rivoli, 75004 Paris
Free admission from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. – every day except Sundays and public holidays
Information: tel. 39 75 (price of a local call from a landline) or
www.Paris.fr
DJELLAILI Lydia
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
