#theanonymousproject

¿Qué hace que una fotografía sea genial? ¿Hasta qué punto una instantánea se considera buena solo porque su autor es conocido? La pregunta sobrevuela estos días en el Casino de Cadaqués, donde piezas de The Anonymous Project, la impresionante colección de fotografías amateur del cineasta Lee Shulman (Londres, 1973), se enfrentan a las del fotógrafo de Magnum Martin Parr (Epsom, 1952). Averiguar a qué archivo pertenecen unas y otras es el desafío al que se enfrenta el espectador de Déjà View , exposición que parte del libro homónimo publicado por la editorial Textuel y que ahora forma parte del Festival Internacional de Fotografía InCadaqués.

Deja View es la alegre colaboración con el formidable Martin Parr @martinparrstudio que ahora se presenta en el festival @incadaques_festival a partir de hoy. Un divertido juego de emparejar imágenes de archivo con uno de los fotógrafos británicos más importantes. Surge la pregunta ¿Qué hace que una imagen sea excelente? Esta es una parte de las nuevas obras que también se muestran en este impresionante lugar. Cadaqués fue la ciudad natal de Salvador Dalí y todavía inspira a muchos artistas jóvenes. Durante las próximas dos semanas se celebrarán muchos espectáculos fabulosos. El libro ha sido reimpreso y ya está disponible en @editions_textuel diseño @agnesdahanstudio

The book

"Déjà View" is a unique work that combines the renowned talent of British photographer Martin Parr with the fascinating archives of The Anonymous Project. The project is a collection of amateur images, mainly slides, that capture intimate, everyday moments in the lives of people since the beginning of the 1950’s. By fusing these two perspectives, the book offers a poignant and often nostalgic look at popular culture and everyday life across the decades.

Martin Parr, known for his colorful, satirical approach to documentary photography, brings his expert eye to selecting and reinterpreting these anonymous snapshots. The result is a series of images that, while rooted in the past, resonate with contemporary relevance. The photographs highlight vacation scenes, family moments and moments of leisure, illustrating the constancy and universality of certain human experiences.

Martin Parr explained in an interview about the project : "Taking a good photograph of everyday life is very difficult. It's what I like to try and do, it's what motivates me to get out and about with my camera. There's no guarantee that you'll get a good image, but there's always a chance that you'll be pleasantly surprised (...). The book is pure, simple and direct. That's what I like about it."

From September 22 to December 22, 2022, Magnum Gallery presented an exhibition on the work Déjà View. The exhibition was also constructed in pairs and in such a way that each work by Martin Parr is associated with a corresponding image from The Anonymous Project collection.

Martin Paar

This book introduced me to Martin Paar's work, which I didn't know at all. He is a British photographer born in 1952. He has been a member of the Magnum Photos agency since 1994, which has enhanced his international reputation. Parr is particularly famous for his colorful and often humorous images, which depict scenes from everyday life, vacations and consumer culture, and that offers a satirical and incisive vision of contemporary society. His distinctive style is characterized by bold use of color, striking compositions and attention to incongruous or kitsch details. In addition to his personal projects, he has published numerous photography books and curated exhibitions, has received numerous awards and distinctions for his work. As a publisher, he has contributed to the promotion of contemporary documentary photography.

The Anonymous project

The Anonymous Project is a unique initiative founded by filmmaker Lee Shulman in 2017, which aims to preserve and celebrate vernacular photography, primarily in the form of amateur slides from the 1950s to 1980s. These images, often found at garage sales, flea markets or on the Internet, capture everyday moments of anonymous families and individuals, offering an authentic, unfiltered glimpse into life at the time. The project highlights the beauty of ordinary moments and the richness of personal stories hidden in these forgotten photos. Their collection can be found on their website. There are categories that highlight the regularity of family photo albums (example: the "my best friend" category includes all photos with pets).

With a growing collection of thousands of slides, The Anonymous Project creates exhibitions, books and films that enable the public to rediscover and appreciate these fragments of the past. By reassembling these images, the project reinvents collective memories and offers a nostalgic perspective on the lifestyles, traditions and intimate moments of a bygone era. The Anonymous Project thus celebrates amateur photography as an art form in its own right, valuing the importance of these visual memories in our understanding of social and cultural history.

From September 22 to December 22, 2022, Magnum Gallery presented an exhibition on the work Déjà View. The exhibition was also constructed in pairs and in such a way that each work by Martin Parr is associated with a corresponding image from The Anonymous Project collection.