Gil Rigoulet: A Look Back On the 70’s
Gil Rigoulet presents a selection of his memory work in North America and Europe at the end of the 1970s. This sociological reportage testifies to a changing era. Indeed, at the end of the glorious thirties, the 1970s were marked by political and social unrest impacting everyone’s daily life.
Through his pictures, he captures life with force. The social context, the moments of joy and sharing, the absurd situations but also the revolts. Gil is right at the heart of the action. He establishes this close relationship, striving to be present with his subject. In return, there is a tacit acceptance, connivance that is immediately felt when reading his photographic writing. Gil Rigoulet never fails to add a touch of English humor…
“These are the people that interest me. My photography is located in a high voltage area between 1.50m and 2m, and everything goes very quickly.
My first photos were taken in 1975. The wind of 68 was still blowing, but the beliefs and rituals of this world were still well established. This company came to take a cold shower. We knew that old ways of doing things had to change. I was young, very curious, and did not hold up. A wind of freedom blew. I have quickly realized that my Nikon was a passport to sneak into this world in transition. The street was the best window and I plunged my camera uncomplicated by traveling North America, and Europe from east to west. No obligations, no command, just to see the world around me.“ – G. Rigoulet
About the Author
Gil Rigoulet began his career in the press in 1975 and at the beginning of the 80s became the first official photographer of the newspaper Le Monde with which he worked for more than 20 years. In 1985, with Henri Cartier-Bresson, he produced a supplement to Le Monde, Portrait of a daily newspaper, for the newspaper’s first “open doors”.
In 1986, Robert Doisneau presented Gil’s photos in a portfolio of Photo-Magazine and Christian Caujolle invited him to the Collective Exhibition and to the book “Living in a swimsuit” at the Deligny swimming pool, with Joseph Koudelka, Marc Riboud, Claude Nori, William Klein, Helmut Newton, Jean Loup Sieff, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Mary Ellen Marck, Franco Fontana…
For three decades, he collaborated with many magazines of the national and international press, such as Géo, Grands Reportages, Elle, Sunday Times, La Républica, la Stampa, El Pais, etc.
At that time, his work placed particular emphasis on the intensity of the gaze, the desire to move forward, to see, and to show. For him, who interferes in the lives of others, his sensitive images take shape: rockers with slicked-back locks, love kisses, photographers in spades, body, and water…
At the same time, he developed an author’s work of Street Photography in Europe, North America, and Asia… Traveling the roads of the world, he produced Paysage en Mouvement, photographs made from a moving car, over a period of 25 years old and exhibited under the title Carnet de voyage for Louis Vuitton at the Bon Marché in Paris in 2004 […]
Gil Rigoulet – A look back on the 70’s
September 4, 2020
November 1, 2020
Studio Baxton
Brussel
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