Gilbert Garcin
'Life is a Theatre'
Several years ago I came across the work of the French photographer Gilbert Garcin. Garcin took up photography at the age of 65 and has produced a remarkable body of work since.
Garcin creates photomontages which provide the environments (often absurd) for his fictional 'Mr Everyone' – played by himself. In his images, Garcin is a melancholy figure, toiling to bring some sense and order in the face of adversity. There is a humour and universality about his work that immediately enables the reader to relate them to his or her condition. The images are surreal, but are sharp and accurate observations of life.
Some of my images in the 'Masks and Symbols' gallery are related to Garcin's observation that 'Life is a Theatre'.
(Finally, as an aside, the French philosopher Roland Barthes concluded that the connection of photography to art is through theatre and not painting).
Garcin creates photomontages which provide the environments (often absurd) for his fictional 'Mr Everyone' – played by himself. In his images, Garcin is a melancholy figure, toiling to bring some sense and order in the face of adversity. There is a humour and universality about his work that immediately enables the reader to relate them to his or her condition. The images are surreal, but are sharp and accurate observations of life.
Some of my images in the 'Masks and Symbols' gallery are related to Garcin's observation that 'Life is a Theatre'.
(Finally, as an aside, the French philosopher Roland Barthes concluded that the connection of photography to art is through theatre and not painting).