The profession of photo reporter has led Raymond Depardon to travel all over the world, and yet his desire for discovery has always been accompanied by a strong link with his rural origins. Bringing together some one hundred photographs, as well as a feature film, La Vie moderne depicts the French rural landscape through the regard of its inhabitants, while exploring universal questions linked to contemporary rural life, such as the survival of farms in a world where professions are increasingly industrialized, as well as the impact of urbanization on the countryside. The exhibition, with a scenography design by Adrien Gardère, takes the form of an open exhibition route that traces Raymond Depardon’s experience of the rural world, consisting of countless voyages and encounters with people and places over the years.
After presenting the largest exhibition ever of Raymond Depardon’s work in Milan in 2022, with La Vie moderne, the Fondation Cartier is pursuing the dialogue initiated with the artist in the 1990s, thereby demonstrating its commitment to showcasing his work to a wide and varied public on an international scale.
Raymon Depardon
Born in 1942 in Villefranche-sur-Saône (France), he currently lives in Clamart.
Raymond Depardon is one of the biggest names in photography and cinema both in France and internationally. A farmer’s son, he discovered photography as a boy and chose, as his first subject, his parents’ farm and that rural environment that would profoundly mark his work. In the 1960s, he became a photojournalist for the Dalmas agency. In 1966 he founded the Gamma agency with Gilles Caron and in 1978 he started working with Magnum. His photographic reportages, that were often accompanied by texts and annotations, defied convention and testified to a unique view of the world. Depardon also made twenty-five feature films, many of which were presented at the Cannes Film Festival or won awards.
Image galleries
