The Ryerson Image Centre is honoured to partner with the Jeu de Paume in presenting Berenice Abbott: Photographs in Paris and Toronto.
Famous for her tireless fight for the recognition of French photographer Eugène Atget, Berenice Abbott is also prominently known for her documentary project Changing New York (1935-1939). This exhibition is the first retrospective of the American photographer, Berenice Abbott, presented in France and Canada.
Berenice Abbott: Photographs explores the different stages of her expansive career through more than 120 photographs. In order to provide a larger context for her œuvre, the exhibition will present her photographic prints alongside a series of never-before-exhibited personal documents (letters, book mock-ups, drawings, magazines, scrapbooks, etc.) and a collection of first edition books. Based on new research and incorporating all of the exhibition photographs, the catalogue brings fresh and exciting perspectives on Abbott’s life and professional career.
This exhibition is curated by Dr Gaëlle Morel, Curator at the Ryerson Image Centre. She received her PhD in the History of Contemporary Photography from Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and she is a member of the editorial committee of the bilingual refereed journal Études photographiques. Her expertise lies with the artistic and cultural recognition of photography from the 1970s, and photographic modernism in the 1930s. Morel was the guest curator of the Mois de la Photo in Montreal in 2009 (with the theme “The Spaces of the Image”) and she has written essays that have appeared in a number of magazines and books. She has also taught History of Contemporary Art and History of Photography at universities in France and Canada.
Interview with Berenice Abbott: Photographs curator, Dr. Gaëlle Morel.
Produced by the Jeu de Paume, Paris (English sub-titles)
