Introduction of Blacet's role

Blacet is a photographer who has been engaged in photography for more than 60 years. 1932 published the photo collection "Night Paris", which is famous for exhausting the whole nightlife in Paris and winning the reputation of "the originator of night photography". /kloc-The album "Artists in My Life" was published in the 1980s, and artists such as Picasso, Dali and Matisse all appeared in the lens of Braset, causing a new sensation.

Chinese name: Blacet.

Blacet Mbth

Nationality: Hungary

Date of birth: 1899

Date of death: 1984

Occupation: photographer

Masterpiece: Night in Paris

character introduction

Blacet (1899— 1984) is one of the most influential photographers in Europe in the 20th century. 1899 was born in Blaso, the ancient Hungarian capital, and went to Paris in June, 438+0924. He started photography in the early 1930s, and published his first photo collection "Paris at Night" in June 438+0932, which attracted the attention of all France and won the reputation of "the originator of night photography". During his photography career, Brasett also photographed famous artists such as Picasso, Dali, Matisse, Miro, giacometti, Braque, Du Fei and Ponar. These photos were later included in the "Artists in My Life" photo album. From 65438 to 0956, Blacet held a photography exhibition with the theme of "random painting" at the Museum of Modern Art ... Besides photography, Blacet was also good at painting and sculpture. Blacet can become famous in photography in a short time, which is closely related to his skillful composition skills endowed by his original painting skills, besides studying hard.

occupation

In the history of photography, Blacet is one of the few masters who established an unshakable position in the early 1930s and have been active in the film industry for more than 60 years. Born on the ninth day of September, the last year of the19th century (1899), Blacet is full of youthful blood and arrogance whenever answering other people's interviews. I think the number "nine" in the date of birth has something to do with his life experience.

Brasett has always been secretive about his real name. He once said: "renaming a name can make a person escape from a monotonous formal identity, just like the shackles of people." If you get rid of it, artists can live and create again. " Brasett was born in Blaso, and "Blacet" means "people from Blaso".

During his first six years in Paris, Blacet made a living by writing articles for some German photography magazines. In order to match the picture of the article, he often asks some photographers to manage a theme together, and finally he simply takes pictures by himself.

"1924 When I came to Paris, I lived a nocturnal life for a while; Work at sunrise and rest at sunset. In those two thousand and one wild nights, I traveled to every corner of Paris. I was shocked by the sight of the city that never sleeps. I want to record it in some way. Finally, a woman lent me an amateur camera, and I used it to take pictures of these scenes that have been entangled in my heart for a long time. "

1932, Blacet's first photo collection "Night in Paris" was published. Blacet's lens of Paris is very inclusive: from the night watchman who lights the gas street lamp to all kinds of people who breathe in the dark: drunkards lying on the street, homeless tramps, prostitutes soliciting in the street, bitterness in the background of circuses and song and dance troupes, naked women waiting in line for clients in brothels, balls of drug addicts and homosexuals, and other faces of the upper class of the lower class. It is for this reason that this photo album shocked all France. Blacet's Night Paris series technically broke through the limits of photography at that time. At that time, the aperture of the camera lens and the sensitivity of the negative film could not allow professional photographers to capture the dynamic images under the night light, and it has always been a mystery where Blacet, who had never been in contact with the camera, learned the negative film enhancement and development skills.

Blacet, who made friends with the Paris art circle at that time, also left portraits of artists at the peak of their creation, such as Picasso, Dali and Matisse, which were collected and published in the1980s. As a master photographer, Blacet's view of photography has also attracted many controversies. "I never thought photography was an art." He expressed this attitude in an article "Potential Images" in 1932, which aroused unanimous criticism from photographers. He said: "In art, photography is an intruder and an inconsistent symbol that disturbs the harmony of other arts"; "Photography is too precise, too dependent on reality, lacking imagination, lacking invention and spiritual characteristics. All these shortcomings are actually some of its characteristics-it is' non-art' or even' anti-art'. This trait is actually the place where photography should be cultivated and should not be attributed to art. "Blacet's view of photography is the best footnote of his work, and the people, things and things he shoots rarely involve emotion.

works

Paris at night

A Night in Paris was first published in 1932, which exhausted the whole nightlife in Paris and shocked all France at that time. When 1976 was reprinted, it was renamed "Secret Paris in the 1930s", and the original 60 works were increased to 120, which was divided into 2 1 unit. Blacet wrote a reading note before each unit. These articles were even praised by the critical The New York Times book critic Kwame: "Blacet outlined the memoirs of that era in the style of an excellent novelist." The photos of "Paris at night" won Blacet the reputation of "the originator of night photography" and "the night watchman of the times". In these works, Blacet always kept calm, tried not to get close to the scene at that time, and recorded the figures of the lower classes such as drunkards, tramps and nightingales, leaving another face of the upper class in the lower classes at that time.

The attitude of prostitutes photographed by Blacet is unusually calm or indifferent, which is in sharp contrast to the absurd scene in the photo: in a small and cramped space, prostitutes stand in twos and threes, naked, bloated and slightly flabby. A well-dressed and sanctimonious spring buyer stood by, without any expression, as if secretly considering and choosing-he didn't seem to find anyone taking pictures.

The Night Scene of Paris by Blacet recorded Paris at that time. Although Blacet doesn't think photography is an art, Paris in his lens is extremely emotional. In Blacet's photos, the streets are often empty, and in the dark, there is an unknown light shining on them. The uneven bricks rubbed by the footsteps of pedestrians in the street look like a symbol of an era, reminding us how many people have been displaced in this space for their own lives, and they have always been the protagonists in this background, performing their own insignificant history in the street, although no one has ever asked.

It is still a technical mystery for Blacet to shoot the night scene of Paris, because the limitations of photography technology at that time-the aperture of the lens and the sensitivity of the negative film could not meet the requirements of professional photographers to shoot dynamic pictures at night.

An artist living in Brassette.

During his stay in Paris, Blacet lived in the famous Milieu Art District, made many friends in the art world, and got to know the top contemporary artists because of the introduction of Terry Yade, a respected art critic at that time. The artist in my life published from 65438 to 0980 is a photographic record of these painters and sculptors by Blacet.

The book "Artists in My Life" records the life and work of 2 1 artists. The intensive shooting period is between 1932 and 1940, and then 1962 is shot intermittently. Among them, Picasso, Dali, Matisse, Miro, Jack Medi, Braque, Du Fei, Ponar, Mayo and others were in their heyday when they just established their position in the world art forest. Under the articles of excellent novelists, Blacet exposed the other side of these masters, making this photo album a hot book in the painting world. Busella's writing is as sharp as the lens of his camera. He described Picasso like this: "I was attracted by his eyes." His eyes are not as big and clear as usual. They are huge because there is a curious instinct to open the eyelids, exposing the whites around the eyes and reflecting lightning-like direct light. "

He described Dali in this way: "Picasso introduced me to Dali's studio in RueLaBloetie Street in the winter of 1932. At that time, Dali was young and handsome, with a thin face, pale and olive mixed, and a show-off moustache. His big crazy eyes are full of wisdom and strange sparks. A gypsy long hair was combed smoothly, and later he told me that it was not hair oil on his head, but oil painting varnish. "

Blacet's keen observation is also accurately shown in these photos. These masters of art have been photographed by many photographers, and Duncan has also photographed two Pythagoras albums. Hasman filmed a whole Dali album; Bresson once photographed Jack Medici, Matisse and Bonaire. Cash is good at shooting people, and has taken photos for Milo, Xia and others. The same artist in the eyes of every photographer has similarities and differences-the same is the original appearance of the artist, but the difference is the interpretation of different photographers.

The artist in Blacet lens

The artist in Blacet's eyes is much more ordinary than others, and there is no sense of "greatness": Picasso's palm, Picasso greeting Pierre Matisse, the son of Matisse in the restaurant, Matisse painting models, Dali's head painted with varnish when he was young and handsome, Miro in the street and Jack Medici in the alley. These ordinary life photos of the masters are Blacet's strongest style, just like he took photos of all beings in Paris at night.

He gave up self-interpretation, so the Picasso we know from his photos is not a genius, but a mortal side of Picasso. The Milo he photographed is even like a cautious accountant, which is very amazing: how can this visionary be like this? It is very rare for artists living in Blacet to show their original life characteristics.

Regarding Blacet's photography style, Chakowski, director of the photography department of the Museum of Modern Art, has this introduction: "Looking at his photos, people don't realize the existence of photography, as if the theme itself reshapes itself through its own media." Henry miller said more clearly: "Emotionally, Brassette expressed such a strong desire that he would not interfere with the object itself. Isn't this feeling inspired by profound human nature? Blacet respects and reproduces the original appearance of the object. "

View of photography

Blacet's views on photography are as sensational as his works: "I never thought photography was an art". He expressed this attitude in the article "Potential Images" in 1932, which aroused unanimous criticism from people in the photography field. He said: "In art, photography is an intruder and an inconsistent symbol that disturbs the harmony of other arts." Photography is too precise, too dependent on reality, and lacks imagination, creativity and spiritual qualities. These shortcomings are actually some of its characteristics-it is "non-artistic" or even "anti-artistic". This trait is actually the place where photography should be cultivated and should not be attributed to art. "What has photography brought us? This is a fresh air and a strong sense of reality. It gives things almost a physical expression, a symbol of undefined truth and truth. Photography has completely updated the relationship between man and the universe. " Before the invention of photography, nothing was not conveyed to us through endless art, everything changed; In the hands of some creative artists, the reality is getting better or worse, or second-rate artists can use useless and trivial beautiful appearance to package it. We will never see the scenery, a face, a small town or a street view, all of which are emotional communication without intermediary. We are too used to watching truth be colored by other people's temperament. The world was accidentally captured by the camera and leaked to us. Blacet's view of photography is the best footnote of his own works, and the people, things and things he photographs rarely involve emotion. He believes that the objectivity of photography is the most devout worship of real-world images. It believes that photography makes human images enter another strict order, which makes the creator give up his personal identity-self.

Special exhibition

A special exhibition entitled "Paris at night: Blacet, 1933" was held in Guangdong Art Museum. Pompidou Art Center has a collection of 97 photos of Brasit, mainly his works from 193 1 to 1932. After the exhibition, it will move to Beijing and continue to exhibit in China Art Museum.