Magnum photographer Alex Majoli’s new book captures the theatre of life
In a departure from the photojournalistic desire to capture unadulterated reality (an arguably impossible task), Magnum photographer Alex Majoli has leaned into the theatre of life for Scene, his new book published by Mack. Scenes of political protest and humanitarian crisis across the globe, alongside quiet everyday moments, show individuals playing their role, acting their part given to them through history and circumstance. In this strange climate of conflicting truths, events in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa are depicted with tenebrious light that suggests the line between theatre and reality is finer than we might like to think.
This understanding of theatre is central to Maloji’s process: each image he creates begins with him and his assistants arranging lights as if they’re building a set. There’s a pause of a minute or perhaps hours or more, a waiting of the show to start, then with no direction given to those in frame he begins to shoot. David Campany explains in the accompanying essay in the book: ‘If the world is expecting to be photographed, it exists in a perpetual state of potential theatre.’ Whether it is on CCTV, a smartphone camera, or with Majoli’s flash.
However, we must not assume that this theatrical approach, with its intervention of flashes far brighter than daylight, detaches Scene from reality. Instead it raises important questions regarding the tensions between art and documentary. Does throwing a sunlit scene into apparent moonlight with a flash remove its authenticity? Perhaps approved photographic acts of framing and timing are just as significant influencers of representation. Does the act of a team setting up lights influence the actions of those within the scene? Perhaps not when we understand our whole lives are lived as performance, when there is a potential to be recorded at any moment.
Photographs from Scene will go on show in a corresponding solo exhibition at Le Bal in Paris, opening to the public on 22 February.
INFORMATION
Scene, £30, published by MACK. The exhibition ‘Alex Majoli: Scene’ is on view from 22 February – 28 April at Le Bal, Paris. For more information visit the gallery website and the Magnum Photos website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
As Photography Editor at Wallpaper*, Sophie Gladstone commissions across fashion, interiors, architecture, travel, art, entertaining, beauty & grooming, watches & jewellery, transport and technology. Gladstone also writes about and researches contemporary photography. Alongside her creative commissioning process, she continues her art practice as a photographer, for which she was recently nominated for the Foam Paul Huf Award. And in recognition of her work to date, listed by the British Journal of Photography as ‘One to Watch’.
-
Maude’s Brâncuși-inspired sex toys go on display in a new Paris exhibition
Maude’s design-led vibrators are now on display at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, as part of ‘Private Lives: From the Bedroom to Social Media’. Brand founder Éva Goicochea talks to Wallpaper* about partnering with the museum and opening up cultural conversations around sex
By India Birgitta Jarvis Published
-
‘I was captivated by the idea of merging two iconic brands’: Nigo on his collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which features a 1990s-inspired riff on the G-Wagon
Unveiled at Moncler’s ‘The City of Genius’ event in Shanghai this past weekend, Japanese fashion designer Nigo unpacks his three-way collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which includes a play on the G-Class alongside a fashion collection in his eclectic style
By Jack Moss Published
-
Cathay Pacific’s new business class Aria Suites take flight
Cathay Pacific raises the bar for business-class travel with the launch of the much-anticipated Aria Suites
By Lauren Ho Published
-
‘Gas Tank City’, a new monograph by Andrew Holmes, is a photorealist eye on the American West
‘Gas Tank City’ chronicles the artist’s journey across truck-stop America, creating meticulous drawings of fleeting moments
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
'I’m So Happy You Are Here': discover the work of Japanese women photographers
Subtitled ‘Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now’, this new monograph from Aperture is a fascinating insight into a critically overlooked body of work
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
‘People are really in their element’: Martin Parr on capturing bar culture, and his look back with Campari
Magnum Photos and Campari join forces for ‘Bar Stories on Camera’, currently on view in Turin, including works by Martin Parr
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
How the west won: Ivan McClellan is amplifying the intrepid beauty of Black cowboy culture
In his new book, 'Eight Seconds: Black Cowboy Culture', Ivan McClellan draws us into the world of Black rodeo. Wallpaper* meets the photographer ahead of his Juneteenth Rodeo
By Tracy Kawalik Published
-
‘Package Holiday 1968-1985’: a very British love affair in pictures
‘Package Holiday’ recalls tans, table tennis and Technicolor in Trevor Clark’s wistful snaps of sun-seeking Brits
By Caragh McKay Published
-
‘Art Exposed’: Julian Spalding on everything that’s wrong with the art world
In ‘Art Exposed’, Julian Spalding draws on his 40 years in the art world – as a museum director, curator, and critic – for his series of essays
By Alfred Tong Published
-
Marisol Mendez's ‘Madre’ unpicks the woven threads of Bolivian womanhood
From ancestry to protest, how Marisol Mendez’s 'Madre' is rewriting the narrative of Bolivian womanhood
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
New Magnum Square Print Sale: what to buy, from Roger Deakins to Alfredo Jaar
The new Magnum Square Print Sale (17–23 April 2023) looks beyond the agency’s roster for the first time, inviting artists, filmmakers, and fellow photographers to join alongside Magnum Photographers
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published