Accomplished with the cooperation of La Conserverie and the collection of Michel F. David (Les Éditions Sur la Banquise), the exhibition En dilettante. Histoire et petites histoires de la photographie amateur retraces, without claiming to be exhaustive, the highlights of the history of amateur photography while showcasing family photos and the little stories behind them.
The exhibition extends from the first Kodak photographs, through a rich collection of autochromes, to panoramic views or archives of painters or members of photography clubs. Many photographs depict harmless and universally recognisable, family stories or are the outcome of someone’s first clumsy attempts at photography. Others merely show a lack of care or bear the marks of sentimental attachment. The walls of the Museum display a series of approximately 250 photographs that have withstood the passage of time and preserved fragments of history from being forgotten. The Museum simultaneously proposes a space devoted to a selection of contemporary artists for whom amateur photography was a steppingstone in their creative process.
Whether anonymous or vernacular, amateur photography has long been regarded as the poor relation of photography; in recent decades, it has achieved the recognition it deserves – both through publications and exhibitions. The Museum of Photography has moreover given prominence to amateur photography, on several occasions, with the exhibitions Le temps retrouvé (2002), Quelque chose (2009) or L’échappée belle (2013). Almost ten years later, the Museum wished once more to devote an exhibition to amateur photography while spotlighting the gifts that join the Museum’s collection every day.
Picture : anonymous, ca 1910. © Coll. Michel F. David
Museum of Photography, Avenue Paul Pastur 11 6032 Charleroi Museum of PhotographyAccomplished with the cooperation of La Conserverie and the collection of Michel F. David (Les Éditions Sur la Banquise), the exhibition En dilettante. Histoire et petites histoires de la photographie amateur retraces, without claiming to be exhaustive, the highlights of the history of amateur photography while showcasing family photos and the little stories behind them.
The exhibition extends from the first Kodak photographs, through a rich collection of autochromes, to panoramic views or archives of painters or members of photography clubs. Many photographs depict harmless and universally recognisable, family stories or are the outcome of someone’s first clumsy attempts at photography. Others merely show a lack of care or bear the marks of sentimental attachment. The walls of the Museum display a series of approximately 250 photographs that have withstood the passage of time and preserved fragments of history from being forgotten. The Museum simultaneously proposes a space devoted to a selection of contemporary artists for whom amateur photography was a steppingstone in their creative process.
Whether anonymous or vernacular, amateur photography has long been regarded as the poor relation of photography; in recent decades, it has achieved the recognition it deserves – both through publications and exhibitions. The Museum of Photography has moreover given prominence to amateur photography, on several occasions, with the exhibitions Le temps retrouvé (2002), Quelque chose (2009) or L’échappée belle (2013). Almost ten years later, the Museum wished once more to devote an exhibition to amateur photography while spotlighting the gifts that join the Museum’s collection every day.
Picture : anonymous, ca 1910. © Coll. Michel F. David
