Des villes et des hommes | Regard sur la collection Florence et Damien Bachelot

Over the past twenty years, Florence and Damien Bachelot have acquired more than 1000 photographs. Their discerning choices initially focused on works by French humanist photographers such as Brassaï, Doisneau, Cartier-Bresson… before turning toward more contemporary creations, with works by Stéphane Couturier, Thibaut Cuisset, Luc Delahaye, Véronique Ellena, Adrien Boyer, Guillaume Zuili… Their collection rapidly expanded, in order to include images by major figures of American photography—Lewis Hine, Sid Grossman, Robert Frank, Ernst Haas, Bruce Davidson, Nan Goldin, Saul Leiter…—as well as British artists, notably Paul Graham, always with a guiding principle: the acquisition of vintage prints only.

A dual gaze upon humanity in its urban environment. Guided by a shared interest in the real, the urban, its evolution and complexity, a significant part of their collection reflects on the place of human beings within society and the city. These are often images that revolve around metropolises, architecture, walking in the street, and the perception of modern space. This book was published on the occasion of the exhibition "Des villes et des hommes, regard sur la collection Florence et Damien Bachelot", curated by Françoise Docquiert (Associate Director of the Department of Visual Arts and Art Sciences at Université Paris 1 Panthéon, independent curator) and Ricardo Vazquez (Chief Heritage Curator, Director of HDA Var, the art center of the Var Department) in April 2022.
Text by Douglas Kennedy.