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The visual narrative of the catalogue spans from 19th-century photographic practices to contemporary positions. The trajectory begins with Émile Zola’s intimate visual observations of family and everyday life, before presenting the interwar humanist tradition through the rediscovered body of work by Hungarian-born Nora Dumas. This classical arc is further nuanced by René Maltête’s street photography infused with poetic humor, Jeanloup Sieff’s bold perspectives on the human body and fashion imagery, the dramatic and lyrical dimensions of Brassaï and André Kertész’s views of Paris, as well as Janine Niépce’s work documenting the transformation of post-war French society. This extensive historical survey concludes with Hexagon, a group exhibition surveying contemporary French photography through its engagement with present-day social and environmental issues.

The projects presented in the experimental space of the ProjectLab Gallery are featured in a dedicated section. Here, the volume discusses Mathias Depardon’s Transanatolia series investigating Turkish border zones, Marine Lanier’s Alpine project Hannibal’s Garden exploring the impacts of climate change, and Nicolas Hermann’s twilight, transcendent landscapes (Salvina Divinorum). The sequence of descriptions and plates is completed by Kathleen Missud’s A Slice of Happiness, which reinterprets family archives; Christopher Barraja’s Infinite Water Mirror series, deconstructing the idyll of the Riviera; and finally, Léo Berne’s visual experiment probing the phenomenology of time and memory.

Spanning from Zola’s visual notes to the latest contemporary reflections, the publication offers a comprehensive expert guide to two centuries of French photography.

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The catalogue is available for purchase at theticket office of Mai Manó House.

Price: 9.800,- HUF
ISBN: 978-615-6982-34-6
Language: Hungarian, French, English
Binding: Hardcover, thread-sewn (vagy: Smyth sewn)
Dimensions: 21 x 27 cm
Illustrations: approx. 100
Page count: 224 pages

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