At the Docks of Arles presents two exhibitions of photographs of Valerie Leonard during the Arles Photography Meetings 2024 : The Guardians of Timefrom July 1 to 14 and The Labors of Herculesfrom July 16 to 30.
“Valerie Leonard’s photography emerges from a deep personal and creative journey. . . , she builds friendships, nurtures empathy, and connects with groups of women and men whose paths diverge from ours as viewers. She does not see them as models to be photographed, as cultures to be discovered or social issues to be exposed. His approach transcends art for art’s sake, anthropology and politics. It is an honest and direct look at individuals who entrust him with a fragment of their humanity. This trust is built over time spent together, close, on the same terrain, in the same heat, under the same sun or through the same storms.” —Etienne Liebig, writer, composer and musician
“It may seem shocking to depict human calamities in magnificent depictions. In this regard, we remember the harsh, but fortunately short-lived, criticisms which accompanied the publication of Sebastiäo Salgado’s photographs. In this context, the idea that beauty plays a crucial role in reflecting the reality faced by more than half of the world’s population, living and working in difficult conditions, runs through all of Valérie Leonard’s reports collected under the title ‘The Labors of Hercules.’ » —Robert Pujadecritic and historian of photography
Valerie Leonard is an award-winning French-American documentary photographer based in Arles, France. His passion is meeting and engaging with people facing adversity in remote parts of the world, and sharing their stories through his photographs. Her beautiful and captivating work is inspired by her strong belief to “always tell the truth, but in terms of beauty,” a philosophy she learned from her father, photographer Herman Leonard. Its aim is to provoke reflection on our world of relentless development and its profound, often devastating, effects on the people and environments least equipped to deal with it. She immerses herself in the lives of isolated communities to gain their complete acceptance and trust before even taking a photo.
Two consecutive exhibitions at the Docks d’Arles will focus on two bodies of his work: Les Gardiens du Temps/The Time Keeperswhich features the Baduy people of southwest Java in Indonesia, and Les Travaux D’Hercules/The Labors of Hercules. , which includes images of people (and some animals) from around the world working in fields, factories, mines, and other harsh and unforgiving environments.
The Guardians of Time introduce us to the Baduy people, who believe that the world began where they are and that they are therefore the guardians of cosmic balance. Their community of around 13,000 members is divided into two groups, the Baduy Dalam and the Baduy Luar. Animists, they believe that each element of the universe, whether animal, plant, stone, mountain, river or star, houses a powerful spirit and, therefore, they feel both respect and fear for these invisible forces. They in turn are protected by the Indonesian government, which respects their lands and beliefs, which predate the Muslim conquest of the region in the 16th century.
The Labors of Hercules includes images of hard-working people (and some animals) engaged in difficult work in harsh but surprisingly beautiful environments around the world. This thought-provoking series pays tribute to the strength, tenacity and humanity of these individuals, who work in obscurity, far from comfortable, industrialized societies and often without choice in the work they do.
Valerie Leonard
Les Gardiens du Temps/The Time Keepersfrom July 1 to 14, 2024
The Labors of HerculesJuly 16-30, 2024
At the Docks of Arles
44, rue du Docteur Fanton
Arles
*The photographer will be on site almost every day to answer questions about her work.*
www.valerieleonard.fr
