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Bernard
Barraillé
Born
in 1926, Bernard Barraillé has lived an epic life and bumped into numerous
artistic giants and luminaries along the way. He discussed photography
with Picasso, who astounded him with his breadth of knowledge on the
subject and even introduced him to the works of Edward Weston. He befriended
Lucien Clergue, who inspired him to start shooting nudes. And through
it all he has amassed an intriguing and beautiful body of work that's
his own. And his nude photographs are stunning to behold.
Bernard
became a journalist near the end of WWII, working in Toulouse. Later
he worked in Paris and in 1957 he moved to the city
of Sète. He recalls feeling passionate about photography
since his adolescence and a career in journalism provided an opportunity
to follow that dream. Thus, as a professional both pictures and text
became his tools for telling stories. But it was photography that
really represented his innermost vision and in his spare time he would
travel about shooting landscapes of the French countryside. Landscape
photography was a favorite genre all along, so once he started to shoot
nudes, it was only natural to marry the two. And he's never looked
back.
Although
Bernard remains true to his original image-makers; his old 4x5 camera
and his Mamiya 6x7, he has also started to use digital techniques and
appreciates the the ease and rapid results that computers allow, But
no matter what the equipment, Bernard Barraillé in an artist and hopefully
history will not forget this pioneer of the modern nude.
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