‘Bernard Faucon was one of the first photographers in the second half of the 20th century to systematically create and master the constructed image. Nonetheless, he declines Christian Caujolle’s characterization of his work as “an approach to time in the context of photography and life that investigates the feeling behind contrived settings, the deceits of photography in its relation to reality, and its manipulation of truth and forgery, which confronts the medium’s limits and defies them.”

‘Faucon’s best known work is an interrelated series of photographic tableaux made largely in the 1980s that re-create and evoke the experience called childhood, particularly the boys’ tradition called summer camp. Every photograph is carefully staged, down to the smallest detail, and uses life-like mannequins of boys who so closely resemble their real-life counterparts that it is hard to tell them apart. Bernard Faucon is an anomaly: Like other artists and photographers who utilize overtly artificial methods, he inescapably works with “constructs” and “concepts”. Yet he is not a Conceptual artist; his point is ambiguous rather than explicit or philosophical, as all Conceptual art photography is. Indeed, he has no desire to make a point at all. Instead, he wants us to relive what he cherishes and loves the most: Childhood, its particular experiences as well as the universal emotions it evokes.

‘As Faucon has put it, “The idea of fabricating fictions, the idea of a possible equation between photography and the dummies, struck me quite out of the blue. Childhoods made of flesh and plaster, the many lights of the Luberon, the nostalgia and actuality of desires, crystallised together through the magical operation of the photographic record. The power to fix, eternalise in light, attest to the world the perfection of an instant. I would hurriedly set up the dummies , and after the shot, pack up and set off again. As they invested those places that bore the mark of my childhood I imagined that those little men freed from their shop-windows, released unknown forces, brought to light sublime, masterful evidence.”

‘Faucon has produced some of the most original photographs of the late 20th century. He has been at the forefront of the staged, surrealist school of photography since its inception in the 1970s and is now considered one of its leading proponents. One of Faucon’s most ardent admirers, Roland Barthes, the greatest European critic of the latter part of the 20th century, sees his work as a metaphor for the vertiginous experience: “The real in Faucon’s art is both the subtly delirious and the heightened awareness of the feelings they arouse in us: Freakish pleasure, irrational fear, unbridled fantasies, forbidden yearnings. It is a marriage of heterogeneous species of reality.”

‘In 1995, visionary French photographer Bernard Faucon stopped taking pictures. “One way or another,” the artist declared, “I had to eventually make true my claim to finish, my obsession with closing. This became The End Of The Image.” In a move that echoes Marcel Duchamp’s public exit from the world of art to play chess, Faucon has not presented any new work since his 1995 coup d’art.’ — collaged

 

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Media


BERNARD FAUCON FACING BEIJING


Slideshow of Bernard Faucon’s work from the ’90s


La liquidation du cabanon de Bernard Faucon, 4 et 5 mars 2006

 

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Further

Bernard Faucon Official Website
Bernard Faucon: Art & writings @ Agence Vu
‘True Fiction: Bernard Faucon in China’
Bernard Faucon, “The Most Beautiful Day of My Youth”
‘Cooking is Bernard Faucon’s second oeuvre’
Bernard Faucon @ tumblr
‘Sepia Dreams’
Bernard Faucon interviewed (in French)
‘The Polaroids of Bernard Faucon’
Books on Bernard Faucon @ Amazon
‘Ballade dans l’univers glauque de Bernard Faucon’
‘Evocation de Bernard Faucon’
‘La période bleue de Bernard Faucon’

 

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Interview
from Centurion Magazine

 

WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO THINK, FEEL OR SAY AFTER THEY’VE VIEWED A PHOTOGRAPH OF YOURS OR READ ONE OF YOUR WRITINGS?

What I expect from my public and from the person standing closest to me is appreciation. Not in the social sense of success, but rather in deeper sense: I want them to see, to perceive what I have within me – the singularity and uniqueness of my perspective of the world. Of course this uniqueness changes: it’s keen when we’re young, and it weakens as we progress though life.

AFTER RECEIVING SO MUCH PRAISE FOR YOUR ART AND GATHERING A FOLLOWING, HOW DO YOU PREVENT FAME FROM INFLUENCING YOUR ART?

Personally, the public acknowledgement doesn’t affect me much; if it had, I would have mastered my career better. Many people all over the world may enjoy and collect my photographs, but the place I occupy in the art world is infinitesimal.

AS AN ARTIST, INSPIRATION IS A NECESSITY. WHERE DO YOU FIND YOUR INSPIRATION?

There’s no recipe for finding inspiration. Traveling and driving fast with the music turned all the way up aren’t always enough! You can go years without having a huge inspiration – it’s always a surprise when it comes. You have to live and accumulate joy and suffering, even boredom, in the sense of the Romantics. You have to know it all.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTIC FOR AN ARTIST TO HAVE?

Without hesitation: a sense of necessity. Produce nothing that doesn’t hearken to a compelling need for expression. Sincerity alone isn’t enough to guarantee depth in a work of art.

DESPITE THE PRAISE YOU RECEIVED, YOU SUSPENDED YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY IN 1997. DO YOU MISS TAKING PICTURES?

I suspended my 20-years’ work in photographical production for reasons of necessity, loyalty to my ‘first’ inspiration and to avoid repeating myself and getting bored. But photography still accompanies me more or less as the illustration of my life, my writing.

WHAT IS YOUR IDEA OF BEAUTY? WHAT MAKES SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL?

For me, art has to do with beauty, and in my pictures I try to create the conditions that lead to that dynamic instant in which beauty and happiness come together in a balanced way. Because my work is collaborative and democratic, we can see these young people looking at their world in a way that reflects the unique beauty of their innocence. And then, during the exhibitions that followed the photo shoots, some would tell me, “This is the most beautiful day of my youth.”

 

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*

p.s. RIP David Thomas (Pere Ubu). ** Misanthrope, Hi, G. I hope you’re in the winner’s circle. ** jay, Hey. I wonder if I do know that author, but I trust your instincts. ‘Blue Prince’ sounds plenty exciting. Maybe there’s a youtube walkthrough by now. I’ll find out. Nah, the only Easter chocolate things I found were too corny, just bunnies and eggs and the like. Oh, well. At least today is still wide open. I hope your work and its surroundings are encompassing. ** James, You can watch ‘Lawnmower Man’ if you want to illustrate your mistaken identity moment, but I don’t remember it being all that good. I don’t think have an opinion on Satanism. I’m 100% religion-non-impacted, so it just seems like an elaborate style choice to me, I guess. That does sound fun and scary. I guess I’ll stay demure and post-trendy however. June, okay, share your mental gymnastics re: your scholarly destination if you so choose. The Trinidad and Gerstler books will probably end up in my next ‘5 books I loved’ post, so you can have a gander. Safe escape from Edinburg. Wait, you leave today but you don’t go home until tomorrow? How does that work? Thanks about ‘TMS’. Uh, that was a really especially hard novel to write ‘cos it was so god damned complicated, so, I don’t know, about four years, I think? Thank you, thank you. Wish your stubble a fond farewell for me. Well, I don’t know how fond actually. ** Steeqhen, It is greatly appreciated, be assured. What novel and what play? Any questions, obviously, feel free. Next week? You are so swift. Wow. That speediness + high attentiveness will serve you well in your hopefully lengthy life, as I suppose you can already guess. ** _Black_Acrylic, Lawn Lion. In other words, ouch! ** Dominik, Hi!!! You should make a film sometime. It’s really interesting. But make one that doesn’t cost very much money. That’s my sagely disclaimer. I’m organising the hours to house my SCAB/Baby Invasion double-header. Hopefully later today if the unexpected doesn’t become expectable. Yay about your/love’s friend’s visit. And on my end, love got his shoes. They’re shiny gray and they have already received two mild compliments. Haha, good question. Love arranging for you to be the set designer on Bernard Faucon’s next photo shoot, G. ** Måns BT, Hi! Oh, that’s wonderful news! I’ll tell Zac. Awesome! Um, I guess you can give them my email address, and you can have it too, of course: [email protected]. Of course Zac and I would love to come for the screening, yes. Wow, exciting! I guess we can sort it out by email. Thank you so much, my pal. That’s so great! Is the impure version of ‘Baby Invasion’ the one with the voiceover? I’ve now talked to five people who’ve seen it, and four of them greatly preferred the version with the voiceover. Thanks again! So cool. More soon! Have a huge day! ** Dynomoose, Dynomoose! Holy moly! How are you? I see your goings-on on Facebook, and you seem pretty okay. Anyway, I know, right. At Publix? I didn’t know you could be a sugar daddy and work at Publix at the same time. That escort was clearly a bargain. Love, me. ** catachrestic, Hey, J! I don’t think I’ve ever lived with anyone who killed someone. But years ago when I was younger and wilder, there was this hustler boy I used to see around NYC all the time. He was always with this really old, like 90 years old, man who seemed to be his sugar daddy. Anyway, I was kind of obsessed with the hustler. Then one day I saw him without the old man, and I picked him up. We were at my place doing our thing, and I asked him about the old man, and he told me that he and the old man were smoking crack the night before and the old man just dropped dead. He said it with a shrug. That made me feel pretty weird. Good old Internet Archive, cool, thank you for the alert. I ended up not seeing any French friends yesterday, but I am today, and the Tocqueville question is already on my lips. ** Steve, Good question. Norman Yonemoto and I co-wrote two porn screenplays that he wanted to direct back in his Jason Sato days, but they were way too narrative for the porn companies even back when narrative porns were a thing, so they never got made. One was called ‘Trick’ and the other was called ‘Boys from Outer Space’. And, yes, they were quite Sirkian. ** Carsten, Whoa, Carsten! It’s been many ages! Holy shit, hi, man. It’s curious because when I was in LA recently I drove by LA City College and thought about you and wondered if you were still in LA somewhere. That’s quite a catch up. Man, you’ve done a lot. And very interesting about your interest in and commitment to poetry. I’ll go find and bookmark your blog post-haste. Great! I can assure you that Zac’s and my films are free of plot and melodrama. Enjoy Spain. Yes, very sad about David E. My jet lag is in remission, thank you. Well, yeah, great to see you, my friend! ** James Bennett, Are you planning colourful risographic things? Awesome. You must be really headlong into the book making. My cheerleading function is at the ready should you need it. ** Thomas H., Hey. I’m glad you’re filling your time nicely. I want to see ‘Sinners’. Usually I wouldn’t be so interested in that kind of film, but that one intrigues for some reason. Cool that it’s a good one. Thanks for the link to your bf’s book. I’ll go check it out, and congrats to him. Everyone, Thomas H.’s bf wrote an intriguing looking book called Titanblood. Go take a look at it here. Early happy birthday! What concert are you utilising to celebrate? Hang in there. And happy, yes, Thursday. ** HaRpEr, I got your email/post, and it’s incredible (!), and I’ll write to you today. I don’t think I’ve read Peter Weiss either. ‘Marat/Sade’ is one of those things I just assume I’ve read but probably didn’t. Great about your story =ing excitement. Don’t take the rejections hard. You know that’s just subjective and probably political bullshit. ** Darbz, Yay about your surroundings! A pic, sure, my consent is granted even though it doesn’t need to be. Mum’s the word about your trip then. It seems safe to assume that those powers-that-be don’t know about this blog. I will give Ms. Bankhead a look. You make that seem imperative. And anyone with such a great name deserves examination. I’ll follow through on the Faetooth link/tune once I’m p.s.-freed. They sound plenty up my alley from your description. Thank you! My film’s on tube? Oh, you mean ‘Permanent Green Light’, yes, it’s true. ** Uday, I haven’t written a letter in so many years. Or received one. Wait, I have received a few. No, no ducks, but I didn’t get that close to the big park by me which is where they hang out. They only tromp into my neighbourhood when it’s flooding. There aren’t a ton of ducks in Paris, but they are here near the Seine. The only birds that descend on my apartment are pigeons, and they are very skittish. If I even move my head very slightly they freak out and flap away. Congrats on the positive reception of your translation! ** Nicholas., Hi. You sound really fired up for very excellent reasons. I’ll be a beginner and then much more, no doubt. Dinner: Capellini pasta with simple sauce which was actually two sauces, a kind of basilica/olive tomato thing and a kind of mushy mushroom thing. It was ok. You imbibed? ** nat, Hey. Yes, I think we’re fully on first name basis. I’m a novelist and not a screenplay writer, so you should be fine. My screenplays are not like scripts. They don’t even look like them. They’re just like sort of experimental fiction except all the descriptions are just hints. Are you started on the script now, or do you need a initial day or two to build it in your mind first? Yeah, those American auteur director guys didn’t get too far before quitting or selling out or something. Or just continuing to make movies even after their mojo had turned to meh like Scorcese. Strange. Fix your heater? Is that hard to facilitate? Sorry. ** Okay. Today you are invited to stroll through my galerie via your eyes and take in the arguably wondrous photos of Mr. Bernard Faucon. See you tomorrow.