During the past 45 years, China has been transformed from a large but undeveloped country into one of the world's foremost industrial superpowers. Throughout that period, senior Magnum photographer Bruno Barbey has been assembling a unique body of work that documents ways in which the country has changed beyond recognition.
Susan Sontag mentioned in On Photography that “photography serves a noble goal: revealing the hidden truth and preserving the disappearing past.” Photography provides people with a way of viewing history from a documentary perspective, especially for later generations. Despite the mad intervention and sharp modification of computer technology, regardless of its authenticity, which was once deeply questioned, but the images that were circulated did provide a proof of presence with “people, subject, thing” from a certain perspective. Perhaps in the era when everyone has a mobile phone to take pictures, all are “photographers,” and a small number of people will go against this, making filming return to the good mood of the heart. However, in the era when only films dominate the situation, the history completely concentrated on the square of pictures. At this time, people often shouted loudly: we miss the era without retouching treatments when everything seemed to be infinitely close to reality.
Bruno Barbey, a former president of Magnum Photos International and now a member of Académie des Beaux-Arts, who has witnessed the development of China through his lens. Barbey was born in Morocco in 1941 and joined Magnum Photos in the 1960s. His work focuses on highlighting colors and having a strong visual style. His footprints spread all over the world. He has photographed many important people and focused on the beauty of daily life. Besides winning various awards, he was made a Knight of France’s National Order of the Legion of Honor in 1982.
In September 1973, Mr. Barbey visited China with the then French President George Pompidou. He recorded the Chinese through the eyes of Western photographers with his camera. As Barbey said, “It is very exciting to record photos in a modern country which was at a crucial moment of history.” This year is also the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. A series of Sino-French cultural activities have been launched in both countries. With DISCOVERING CHINA AS IT IS: a Photographic Exhibition of Bruno Barbey as the title, the exhibition features 49 photographs taken by Bruno Barbey during his visit to China in the 1970s and 1980s. At the same time, he also donated 69 masterpieces to the National Art Museum of China.
At that time, photographers generally used black and white photos. In the era when color photography was not taken seriously, Barbey took the lead in trying Kodak Chrome color films, which shows the importance of technical support and pioneering spirit.
Lens may be just a medium and a tool. It really carries a thought, from the observation, imagination, narrative and exploration of the master behind the lens. It is like a writer using words, an artist using a brush, and a camera is a photographer’s “speaking way” and “communicative means.” Barbey’s photography was not obsolete because of the passage of time. On the contrary, each photo has a different appeal. After years, they are still full of rich and original colors.
As Mr. Wu Weishan mentioned in his preface for the exhibition, Barbey once said “photography is the only language that can be understood anywhere in the world.” This exhibition rediscovers China as it was while reflecting on the historical scenes of China, which were once again reunited and re-examined. The exhibition will remain on view until July 28.
Text by Zhang Yizhi, translated and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO
Photo Courtesy of the Artist and National Art Museum of China
18-29 July : NAMOC International Artworks Donation and Collection Exhibition :The True Color of China
linked with Barbey's "Color of China" release
Color of China
Author: Bruno Barbey
Concept and Design: Caroline Thienot-Barbey and Jean Loh
Introduction: Jean Loh
Preface: Dong Qiang
Published by Beijing United Publishing Co.,Ltd. & Post Wave Publishing
978-7-5596-2900-5
456 Pages
285mm x 285mm
2019 April first edition
Hard cover
698.00 CNY
Author: Bruno Barbey
Concept and Design: Caroline Thienot-Barbey and Jean Loh
Introduction: Jean Loh
Preface: Dong Qiang
Published by Beijing United Publishing Co.,Ltd. & Post Wave Publishing
978-7-5596-2900-5
456 Pages
285mm x 285mm
2019 April first edition
Hard cover
698.00 CNY
TRANSFORMACIONES: ARTE Y ESTÉTICA DESDE 1960 / XII EDICIÓN · 1968, RESONANCIAS Y PERSPECTIVAS
14/11/201819:00 a 22:00h 1968 en fotografías y documentos (En Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo) BRUNO BARBEY – Fotógrafo ELENA VOZMEDIANO– Crítica de arte
The larger restrospective dedicated to Bruno Barbey start his tour in China in the Art Museum of Shenzhen. From the 26th October to the 4th November 2018. A book in chinese language is published which contain the retrospective.
Location :
Shenzhen Art Museum
Chinese and Pinyin Name: 深圳美术馆
Place Address (English/Pinyin):
32 Donghu Street 1, Aiguo Road, Shenzhen City
深圳市罗湖区爱国路东湖一街32号
Exposition présentée au Centre international du photojournalisme
Couvent des Minimes
24 rue François Rabelais - Perpignan
Entrée gratuite tous les jours de 10h à 20h
2. EXHIBITION "CHINA IN BLUE"
Bursa Metropolitan Municipality,
Administrative Department t of Local Agenda,
Merinos Congress Culture Centre,
Merinos Park,
Osmangazi, Bursa
Turkey
Photography by Bruno Barbey & Pedro de Moraes
Text by Paulo Antonio Paranaguá
Contributor: Ana Cecilia Impellizieri & Cristianne Rodrigues
Published by Bazar de Tempo, Rio de Janeiro. May 2018. 160 p.
ISBN : 978-8569924364.
Medio siglo después, el fotógrafo francés de la agencia Magnum Bruno Barbey regresa a los escenarios de París que inmortalizó durante los disturbios y los retrata de nuevo para 'El País Semanal'...
A l'occasion du cinquantenaire de Mai-68, Le nouveau magazine littéraire et Ground Control organisent du 26 avril au 13 mai une programmation spéciale interrogeant l'héritage du mouvement social!
Au menu: conférence, rencontres, émissions radio...
En parallèle, Polka Magazine propose un accrochage exceptionnel avec les images de Janine Niépce, Bruno Barbey et Jean-Claude Gautrand dans la grande Halle ainsi qu'un cycle de projections de leurs photographies.
Retrouvez nous pour la soirée de lancement le jeudi 26 avril à partir de 18H30.
Stephen Bulger Gallery is pleased to present “Witness of Things Past”, our first solo exhibition of work by the internationally renowned Magnum photographer Bruno Barbey. This exhibition offers a survey of some of his best-known black and white photographs as well as colour works made over the course of his remarkable career.
BRUNO BARBEY Witness of Things Past
Exhibition Dates: March 10 – April 14, 2018 Opening Reception: Saturday, March 10, 2-5pm
Barbey’s professional career began in the early 1960s when, over a four-year period, he photographed his series “The Italians”. Barbey perceived the Italian people as protagonists of a 'theatrical world' and aimed to capture the spirit of a nation through his striking black and white portraiture. This series presents a modern Commedia dell’arte of beggars, priests, nuns, carabinieri, prostitutes, Mafiosi, and other archetypal figures whose exotic charms stand as a testament to the life and times of Italy in the 1960s. The resulting book remains on the short list of many photography experts and continues to entrance readers to this day.
Over the past five decades, Barbey has photographed on all seven continents and documented wars and conflicts in Nigeria, Vietnam, the Middle East, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Kuwait. The colour photographs in this exhibition feature Barbey’s work from abroad and show the exceptional talent he has for capturing the human condition all around the globe. Barbey’s striking use of colour gives insight into the lives of his subjects and proves him to be a modern master of photography.
Bruno Barbey (born 1941, Morocco) has dual nationality, French and Swiss. He studied photography and graphic arts at the École des Arts et Métiers in Vevey, Switzerland. His work was recently the subject of a retrospective exhibition at La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, which is currently touring internationally, and of a major monograph entitled Passages, which was published simultaneously. Barbey has received numerous awards for his work, including the French National Order of Merit. In 2016, Barbey was elected a member of the French Academy of Fine Arts, Institut de France. His photographs are exhibited worldwide, held in numerous museum collections, have appeared in major magazines, and he has published over 30 books. Today, he is photographing extensively in China, where he is publishing a book about China from the cultural revolution to today, as well as a new book on the 50th anniversary of the May 1968 protests in France.
On January 2009, Bruno Barbey photographed the inauguration of President Barack Obama. At the time, the election of Obama brought new hope to the afro-american community in the US.
A l'occasion de ses 70 ans de carrière, Pierre Cardin a présenté à ses confrères « 70 ans de sculptures vivantes », dans la Grande Salle de séances de l'Institut de France.
EYES WIDE OPEN! is curated by Hans-Michael Koetzle and tells the history of a revolution. It illuminates the history of Leica photography from the very beginnings to the present day...
Passages is published at the occasion of the retrospective exhibition of Bruno Barbey's work at the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris from 12th November 2015 to 17th January 2017.
Passages recounts 55 years of photography around the world, from 1960 to 2015.
