Lisette Model is a really key figure in photography and i happily wandered around the exhibition of her work which made me think about what it is i do like in a photograph. I hate anything that is too obvious, too tweeked and over styled. It has to be real for me too, a moment or a face that has something hidden behind it. I like Lisette Model, her real name Elise Amélie Félicie Stern which i absolutely love and am going to call her by forever.
Anyway, her snaps really left me feeling like she had some kind of trick up her sleeve, something about the way she used the camera almost as a kind of detection device. Her images seem to speak aloud and she made it possible to see what habit often hides. The distinctive style was picked up from having no real technical training, which gave me a pang of hope. Maybe i need to snap more. I always seem to get carried away watching things go by that i don't think to capture it for other people. Wise words of hers were painted on the wall and read 'Never photograph anything you are not passionately interested in.' That hit the nail right on the head for me. Selective photography starts tomorrow so sit tight and see how i get on with that if you will.
She caught the attention of Harper's Bazaar, who as her first commission, published Coney island Bather, a portrait of a fleshy, jovial swimmer at the seaside. This now stands as one of her most famous photographs and she recieved the recognition she so deserved for the moments she managed to cleverly capture on her film.
This is the snap i got stuck on. Looks like a romantic daydream. I bought the postcard of it but no ways am i sending it, it's a keepsake.
The exhibition is running until 6 june, 2010 at Jeu de Paume, Concorde and it'll only set you back five euros admission.
jeudepaume.org
