A Foundation presents a unique exhibition featuring the 'CONTACTS' of photographers Walker Evans, Guido Guidi, Luc Chessex and Olivier Kervern

From 11 April to 30 June, the A Foundation in Brussels presents the exhibition "CONTACTS", which places a unique selection of images by French photographer Olivier Kervern (°1977) in dialogue with a series of contact prints by three masters of photography: Walker Evans (1903-1975), Guido Guidi (°1941) and Luc Chessex (°1936).

This exhibition shows a great affinity with the photographic object, and more specifically with the contact print and the contact sheet, which provide privileged access to the photographer's creative process. Contact sheets are first and foremost confidential working documents, the 'work in progress' before the final selection and production of the 'print' of the image.

Astrid Ullens de Schooten Whettnall's collection is notable for its large series of - some previously unpublished - contact prints by photographers such as Luc Chessex, Walker Evans and Guido Guidi. They are presented in this exhibition in dialogue with the images of Olivier Kervern, for whom contact prints are at the heart of his work. He shows his contact prints in the same way others show their 'prints'.

The title of the exhibition also refers to the first contact between Anne Lacoste, director of the Institut pour la Photographie de Lille and curator of the exhibition, and Astrid Ullens de Schooten Whettnall, the inspirer of the A Foundation, during Mitch Epstein's American Power exhibition at the Musée de l'Elysée - now Photo Elysée - in Lausanne in 2011. It was an initial contact that was renewed from time to time as they shared their discoveries and projects. Over time, these contacts became regular, based on shared values: inclusion and accessibility, a critical and sensitive look at photography and support for creative work.

Contacts
​Olivier Kervern, Walker Evans, Guido Guidi, Luc Chessex
​11.04 - 30.06.2024
​A Foundation
​Curator : Anne Lacoste (Directrice de l'Institut pour la Photographie, Lille)

About Olivier Kervern

Olivier Kervern was born in Fontainebleau in 1977. He left school after the baccalaureate. He travelled to India for a year and started his first photographic works.

He discovered Marguerite Duras. He fell in love. Every summer, he photographs in Genoa, Italy.

In 2014, he started working with Holiday Magazine, which offers him 2 trips a year. He started cutting out his contact sheets and selling his "contact" prints on the street.

The fashion label Jil Sander hired him and he began a first collaboration that continues to this day.

He now lives and works in Paris.

About the curator, Anne Lacoste

Anne Lacoste has been director of the Hauts-de-France Institute of Photography since its creation in 2018. This new venue for exhibitions, exchanges and experiments dedicated to photography, initiated by the Hauts-de-France region in collaboration with the Rencontres d'Arles, is located in the heart of Lille's old city centre. After five years of experience at Christie's in Paris and London, Lacoste began her career as a curator at the Photographs department of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles in 2005. She then served as curator of exhibitions at Photo Elysée in Lausanne from 2011 to 2017. Her exhibition and publication projects cover the history of photography, including monographs on Felice Beato, Nadar, Paul Strand, Irving Penn, Philippe Halsman and Martine Franck, with a particular interest in the contemporary scene. Her field of study extends to the diversity of forms of the medium - the Photomaton, the history of the slide, the photobook - as well as its various applications, such as photographic practice in archaeology, the iconographic collection of Vaud, and the work of graphic artist Wojciech Zamecznik and artist Jean Dubuffet.

Selection of images