Aakhri Salaam

He might have given up photography, but French artist Bernard Faucon's work still makes for quite a visual treat. Catch it on his trip to town

Oblivious to the world surrounding it, a good photograph conveys its message in the most subtleu00a0 yet stark manner. And when its French artist Bernard Faucon at the lens, you can be sure the frames are soul stirring. His Retrospective exhibition starts in town today, and we try to capture the essence and more.

Emosanal ecstasy

The show is a compilation of the best of Bernard's work in the last 20 years. It is divided into eight sections that depict the varied emotions of life Summer Holidays (1976-1981), Probable development of time (1981-1984), The Chambers of Love (1984-1987), The Chambers of Gold (1987-1989), Idols and Sacrifices (1989-1991), The Writings (1991-1992), The End of the image (1993-1995) and The Happiest Day of my Youth (1997-2000). The mood revolves around realism and the human soul.

Creative quest

After experimenting with the medium of photography all his life, the shutterbug felt he had expressed
all that he had to. "There is no point in doing something after you reach a creative dead end," he says, when asked about why he gave up on his passion.

The artist is having his maiden exhibition in the country, after having travelled the world over and winning much appreciation.

Here's a look at Bernard's best
Summer Holidays
The series stages some dummies in various places where the artist spent time when he was young

Probable development of time
This collection highlights the fire within

The Chambers of Love
This series is made up of square-shaped photographs. Some represent sleeping children, other ghosts, or plants invading a room

The Chambers of Gold
In 1987, the artist went to Japan for the second time. He came back dizzy with the gold and Buddhist phantasmagoria

Idols and sacrifices
This line marks the end of a long cycle of abstraction and idealisation

The Writings
The lensman superimposes sentences about disenchantment on landscapes
u00a0
The End of the image
Bernard Faucon ended his works with this series of human landscapes: close-up snapshots of children's bodies

The Happiest Day of my Youth
Young people from more than 20 countries were invited by the artist to take photographs of the happiest day of their youth

Retrospective
On till: February 12
Where: The Galerie Romain Rolland,Alliance Franu00e7aise, 72 Lodhi Estate
Ring: 43500200