For the past few years, Antoine Tempé has photographed numerous personalities in African cinema. Portraiture, so ubiquitous among Africa's great photographers, is a constant underlying theme for him. He utilizes the same format as the masters of African portrait photography, but purposely renounces recreating the ambiance of African photographers' studios. His portraits are shot from a point of view that allows his subjects to pose themselves in front of the camera and gaze into the lens as they feel. Thus, not only does he present an image of a subject--as in a studio portrait--but he invites you to contemplate the personality of each person he has photographed. Filmmakers, actors and technicians act out their own part by staging themselves as they wish.
Stephan Zaubitzer's color images of open-air movie theaters reflect a carefully staged reconstituted studio ambiance that echoes Tempé's portraits. These theaters, often poorly lit with blurred boundaries, are stages where, during the film's projection, all social roles are played out. For just a few Francs CFA, kids and idlers take their places with noses up to the screen on plastic mats or sometimes wooden benches. The more affluent movie lovers make themselves comfortable in the back of the room on metal chairs. The theater then becomes a street scene full of discussion, laughter and bustling.
When viewed together, the photographs--black-and-white for Tempé's, color for Zaubitzer's--do not tell an immediate truth. They insinuate themselves into the soul of the gazer who will perceive and surrender to a secret, and ultimately arresting, invitation.
Through their own personal visions, Antoine and Stephan link different aspects of African cinema. On this continent, movie people are in sharp contrast with the spaces reserved to this art form. The determination that shines in the eyes of these men and women stands out against the decrepit walls of these open-air cinemas.
Unlike portraits commissioned by models who want to record their beauty and far from the didactic images documenting the continent's cinema--which often serve as anthropological teaching tools for other continents--these photographs convey a history, simply human, of one place on earth.
This exhibit is presented by Galerie Chab (Bamako) in collaboration with the 14th New York African Film Festival, under the banner Celebrating 50 Years of African Independence and Cinema.
The photographs are on display in the Walter Reade Theater's Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery at Lincoln Center. Gallery hours are 2-8 pm daily.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center presents curated exhibits in the Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery at the Walter Reade Theater that either compliment the programming or are film related art shows. Inaugurated in 1991, the space was designed by prestigious architectural firm Davis Brody and named in honor of the Furmans, longtime supporters of the Film Society.
