Luc Delahaye
Encyclopedia
Luc Delahaye is a French
photographer
known for his large-scale color works depicting conflicts, world events or social issues. His pictures are characterized by detachment, directness and rich details, a documentary
approach which is however countered by dramatic intensity and a narrative structure.
Delahaye started his career as a photojournalist. He joined the photo agency Sipa Press in the mid 80s and dedicated himself to war reporting. In 1994, he joined the cooperative Magnum Photos
and Newsweek Magazine (he left Magnum in 2004). He distinguished himself during the 1980s and 1990s in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Chechnya. His war photography
was characterized by its raw, direct recording of news and often combined a perilous closeness to events with an intellectual detachment in the questioning of his own presence. This concern was later mirrored in a minimalist series published as books, notably Portrait/1, a set of photobooth portraits of homeless people and L'Autre, a series of stolen portraits made in the Paris subway. With Winterreise, he explored the social consequences of the economic depression in Russia. In 2001, Delahaye conducted a radical formal change and began a new series. Shot at the scenes of wars and global events using large
and medium format cameras and sometimes edited on computers, his pictures are produced at an imposing size and shown in museums. While exploring the boundaries between reality and the imaginary, they constitute documents-monuments of immediate history, and urge reflection "upon the relationships among art, history and information".
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
photographer
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
known for his large-scale color works depicting conflicts, world events or social issues. His pictures are characterized by detachment, directness and rich details, a documentary
Documentary photography
Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle significant and historical events. It is typically covered in professional photojournalism, but it may also be an amateur, artistic, or academic pursuit...
approach which is however countered by dramatic intensity and a narrative structure.
Delahaye started his career as a photojournalist. He joined the photo agency Sipa Press in the mid 80s and dedicated himself to war reporting. In 1994, he joined the cooperative Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices located in New York, Paris, London and Tokyo...
and Newsweek Magazine (he left Magnum in 2004). He distinguished himself during the 1980s and 1990s in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Chechnya. His war photography
War photography
War photography captures photographs of armed conflict and life in war-torn areas.Although photographs can provide a more direct representation than paintings or drawings, they are sometimes manipulated, creating an image that is not objectively journalistic.-History:Photography, presented to the...
was characterized by its raw, direct recording of news and often combined a perilous closeness to events with an intellectual detachment in the questioning of his own presence. This concern was later mirrored in a minimalist series published as books, notably Portrait/1, a set of photobooth portraits of homeless people and L'Autre, a series of stolen portraits made in the Paris subway. With Winterreise, he explored the social consequences of the economic depression in Russia. In 2001, Delahaye conducted a radical formal change and began a new series. Shot at the scenes of wars and global events using large
Large format
Large format refers to any imaging format of 4×5 inches or larger. Large format is larger than "medium format", the 6×6 cm or 6×9 cm size of Hasselblad, Rollei, Kowa, Pentax etc cameras , and much larger than the 24×36 mm frame of 35 mm format.The main advantage...
and medium format cameras and sometimes edited on computers, his pictures are produced at an imposing size and shown in museums. While exploring the boundaries between reality and the imaginary, they constitute documents-monuments of immediate history, and urge reflection "upon the relationships among art, history and information".
Awards
- Deutsche Börse Photography Prize (2005)
- Robert Capa Gold Medal (2002, 1992)
- Niepce Award (2002)
- ICP Infinity Award (2001)
- Oskar Barnack Award (2000)
Exhibitions (solo)
- Nathalie ObadiaNathalie ObadiaNathalie Obadia is a French contemporary art dealer working in Paris and Brussels. She is a member of the bureau of the French professional committee of art galleries and was its vice-chairman for three years...
(Paris, 2011) - J. Paul Getty MuseumJ. Paul Getty MuseumThe J. Paul Getty Museum, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is an art museum. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California...
(Los Angeles, 2007) - Sprengel MuseumSprengel MuseumThe Sprengel Museum in Hanover houses one of the most significant collections of modern art in Germany. It is located in a building designed by Peter and Ursula Trint and Dieter Quast , adjacent to the Maschsee...
(Hanover, 2006) - La Maison Rouge (Paris, 2005)
- Cleveland Museum of ArtCleveland Museum of ArtThe Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
(2005) - Huis Marseille (Amsterdam, 2004)
- National Media Museum (Bradford, 2004)
- KunsthalKunsthalThe Kunsthal is a museum in Rotterdam, which opened its doors in 1992. The museum is situated in the Museumpark of Rotterdam next to the Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, and in the vicinity of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Entrance to the Kunsthal is from the Westzeedijk...
Rotterdam (2002) - Kunsthalle Rostock (2002)
- Centre Photographique d’Ile de France (2002)
- Weltkulturerbe Voklinger Hutte (2002)
Exhibitions (group)
- New Documentary Forms. TATE Modern (London, 2011)
- Documents, Memory of the Future. MARCO (Vigo, 2007)
- Eye Witnesses. Seedamm Culture Center (Pfaffikon, 2007)
- Wanderland. Museum Haus Lange (KrefeldKrefeldKrefeld , also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine...
, 2006) - Click-Double-click. Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels, 2006)
- The Culture of Fear. Federkiel Foundation (Leipzig, 2006)
- Click-Double-click. Haus der KunstHaus der KunstThe Haus der Kunst is an art museum in Munich, Germany. It is located at Prinzregentenstrasse 1 at the southern edge of the Englischer Garten, Munich's largest park.-History:...
(Munich, 2006) - Big Bang. Centre Georges PompidouCentre Georges PompidouCentre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais...
(Paris, 2006) - Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. C/O Berlin (Berlin, 2005)
- Singuliers. Guangdong Museum of Art (Guangdong, 2005)
- Les Grands Spectacles. Museum der Moderne (Salzburg, 2005)
- Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. The Photographer’s Gallery (London, 2005)
- Emergencies. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Castilla y Leon (Leon, 2005)
- Historias. PHE04 (Madrid, 2004)
- Strangers. ICP Triennial. International Center of PhotographyInternational Center of PhotographyThe International Center of Photography is a photography museum, school, and research center in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
(New York, 2003) - Now. Images of Present Time. Mois de la Photo (Montreal, 2003)
Books
- 2006 2010 ( Steidl, 2011)
- History ( Chris Boot, 2003)
- Une Ville ( Xavier Barral, 2003)
- Winterreise ( Phaidon, 2000)
- L'Autre (Phaidon, 1999)
- Memo
- Portraits/1 (1996)
External links
- A Conversation with Luc Delahaye. PopPhoto.com, June 12, 2007.
- World mergers: Michael Fried on Luc Delahaye. ArtForum, March 2006.
- View from the Photo Desk: Luc Delahaye. The Digital Journalist, August 2004.
- Luc Delahaye on ArtFacts.