Intimité
Jean-Louis Fernandez
Being a contented member of an audience may not be as easy as it seems.
It might be thought that all an audience needs is to attend and enjoy the performance. I do not believe that things work that way; there may have to be a certain mindset or alertness. The pleasure felt and the successful experience of an audience will depend on both the quality of the performance on stage and the active involvement of the spectator’s mind and imagination, the level of individual awareness and responses triggered in the emotional memory.
Jean-Louis Fernandez was a photographer before being a spectator, but the revelation of his gifts in both areas saw him become a photographer of stage performances.
Today he is one of the leading photographers of live performances, and the special relationship he has with a performance is no doubt what makes his pictures so intense and unique.
His photos are quite unlike any others: he recomposes the work presented on stage, being involved as a spectator while also creating his own original work. His professional eye will choose the element on stage that will trigger the emotional response he felt when watching the performance. The special quality of his photography, as recognized by the artists concerned, is that his images convey what a spellbound audience most appreciated in the artists. His view enhances the stage. As he is part of the realm of the performing arts, he can mix with the artists and troupes, being close at hand, at all times, in all situations in and around the performance: rehearsals, preparation, coming back to earth after the show, during moments of relaxation and discussions when artists talk amongst themselves or with members of the audience.
Preview
Jean-Louis Fernandez is very tall, yet it is always a surprise to spot him as he moves around with his camera, there, close by. He can vanish, merge into the group, and people will just let him be there, pointing the camera at them, but never invasively.
And so he can continue, working on, even when the artists need to be alone, in private, recording images no audience has ever seen: the moment when the actor or dancer will look into the mirror in search of the character, or find the momentum needed for the role, and the surge just before stepping on stage.
Artists do not look at themselves in his camera as if they were looking in a mirror; they tackle the observing and recording eye that can register the impression, the eye of the partner who is part of their world, the eye of the camera, the eye willingly allowed to see such inner moments, the moment when the human being is abandoned and shifts into creative expression. It is breathtaking to see a split second transcending time, when the entire essence of a living being will glow.
Jean-Marc Grangier, Director, Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand
