Luck would have it that Rodin was born one year after photography. While he pursued his career as a sculptor, this new reproduction technique experienced what was probably its most fertile and inventive years. The artist was by no means oblivious to the practical and aesthetic appeal of this new medium, and the approximately 7,000 pictures he amassed between 1879 and 1917 illustrate both his own story and the history of photography.
Photography has opened for us the doors of his studio, which lay at the heart of his creation during the 1880s. This is where lumps of clay took shape, The Burghers of Calais were modelled naked before being clothed, and The Gates of Hell covered with a multitude of figures. Rodin started by hiring unknown photographers from the neighbourhood, Bodmer, Pannelier and Freuler who, unlike him, remained in the shadows. And then the clay figures were transformed into plaster, bronze and marble, and the studio became increasingly crowded. By the end of the 1890s, Rodin was an artist recognised by both his peers and the general public. Eugène Druet, an amateur photographer, followed by Jacques-Ernest Bulloz, became his official photographers, each one in his own manner following Rodin’s precise instructions.
Your photographs will make people understand my Balzac
A.Rodin to E. Steichen
This evolution in the role and place of photography in the sculpted work of Rodin is an accurate reflection of what happened in the early 20th century: photography was viewed under a different angle so that it gradually attained the status of an artwork.
This large-scale exhibition, devoted to the photographic collection of the Rodin Museum, will present 200 photographs for the first time since the Salon des Pictorialistes held in 1993. A catalogue, jointly published by the Rodin Museum and Gallimard, will accompany the exhibition.
RODIN AND PHOTOGRAPHYExhibition from 14th November 2007 to 2nd March 2008
Musée Rodinwww.musee-rodin.fr79, rue de Varenne
75007 Paris
Metro Varenne (line 13)
Opening hours: 9.30am-4.45pm every day except Mondays.
Closed 25th December and 1st January
Admission price: Adults 6 euros, concession 4 euros.
Combined exhibition + permanent collection ticket + garden: 9€, concession: 6€
This art project was originally commissioned by the MUSAC. The Leon's Museum of Contemporary Art in Spain asked the designer to create a set of multimedia documents on the 2007 edition of the Benicassim festival. This rock rendez-vous had gathered last July some of the biggest names in the international arena such as Iggy & The Stooges, Nouvelle Vague, Dinosaur Jr, Amy Winehouse, Cassius, Muse, Unklle ... "Hedi Slimane /// Perfect Stranger" is a video, sound and photography tour in the heart of this festival. An exhibition at MUSAC and a book will follow this first step in the Paris gallery. 
This evolution in the role and place of photography in the sculpted work of Rodin is an accurate reflection of what happened in the early 20th century: photography was viewed under a different angle so that it gradually attained the status of an artwork.
