Why I love Willy Ronis!
Poetics of Engagement
Every time I see one of his photographs, I just want to…hug it! So what is it that I love so much about the works of Willy Ronis? After a lot of pondering about this question, I came up with an answer. Each one of his photos is a story about you and me. Not actually you and me of course ‘cos I so wasn’t alive in the fifties…but they’re anecdotal, poetic, and heart warming stories of everyday life that transcend the borders of time and remove us from the pressing uncertainties in the world around us. Why can’t we celebrate the little things in life instead of zooming in on the things that are wrong with it? That, is why I love Ronis.
Carrefour Sèvres-Babylone, Paris 1959 - Crédit Photo: © Willy Ronis
Like fellow photographers Brassai and Doisneau, Ronis took pleasure in little yet touching scenes he saw in his life as walked out the door each morning. Ronis delighted in exploring the streets of the French capital; busy pedestrians, happy lovers by the Seine, the hustle and bustle of the flea markets, and children playing games in the streets. Coupled with his camera Ronis wove together an artistic patchwork embodying the nostalgic charm of Parisian life.
In the weeks before his death in 2009, Ronis expressed his wishes to have a big exhibition in Paris to celebrate his one hundredth birthday. This year the Jeu de Paume and the Monnaie de Paris join forces with the Médiathèque de l’Architecture et du Patrimonie to make his dream a reality, albeit a posthumous one.
The exhibition is more than a homage to this French photography great, for it also sets out to reveal numerous unknown aspects of his fine body of work – thousands of negative, personal and professional documents, photo albums and vintage prints. I stumbled across pictures I’d never even seen before which immediately captured my attention, including his beautifully composited photograph Un dimanche au Louvre.
Although a bit cluttered in presentation, A Poetics of Engagement is clearly a must-see exhibition for any lover of Ronis’ work, or anyone just wanting to discover breath-taking snapshots of Paris throughout the last century.
Willy Ronis – A Poetics of Engagement
16 April to 22 August 2010
Monnaie de Paris, 11 quai de Conti, Paris 6ème
Tuesday-Sunday 11h00 to 19h00 (late night Thursday)
Admission: 7 Euro (Concession 5 Euro)
Written by Sarah Reese