Uprising

The Jeu de Paume has a fabulous exhibition entitled "Uprisings" running through January 15, 2017.  The exhibit takes over the bulk of the exhibition space, covering two floors.  It explores political uprisings, with lots of photography, video, and graphic art to make its points.  The curators had a bias in favor of Latin American uprisings, but plenty of protests from around the world were featured.

As I gave the guard my ticket, I said, "Appropriate for an American in the Age of Trump to be visiting the exhibit."  He smiled and shook his head, but it isn't just the U.S.  With France veering to the right, Brexit, and nationalism raising its ugly head in our part so Europe, I suspect we are about to enter a period that harkens back to 1968.  Surprising, none of Josef Koudelka's photographs documenting the Czech 1968 revolution that was surpassed by the Soviet Union.

My favorite photographs in the exhibition were by the late Gilles Caron.  The two students throwing rocks in one of his signature photographs look like ballet dancers.  Not surprising that the curators featured this photograph on the poster, brochure cover, and catalogue for the exhibition.

Toward the end of the exhibit, Evelyn walked up to me and said, "I've been worrying about what is going to happen once Trump assumes the presidency."  She has good reason to worry.

One caption caught my attention: "Use photography as a weapon." John Heartfield (1929 Berlin).

And in closing:  This museum/exhibition space has one of (if not) the best photography bookstores in the world.  Lots of books from European publishers that are not available in the U.S.