Hilversum, C. de Boer Jr, 1963
Paris Mortel is Joan van der Keuken's third book, originally published as a promotional item for C. de Boer Jr. It follows Wij zijn 17 (1955) and Achter Glas (1957) and is his most important book. He took these photographs between October 1956 and August 1958 while studying filmmaking in Paris at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC). In them, he captures a feeling of alienation, loneliness and anonymity with a sombre, underlying sense of menace. Paris at this time was dominated by the Algerian uprising and de Gaulle's rise to power. Heavily influenced by William Klein's Life is Good & Good For You in New York (1956), van der Keuken initially intended the book's design to be far more radical. The publisher rejected two proposals before agreeing on this more restrained but still cinematic layout, which is divided into six sections: the suburbs, the Metro, street life, the city at night, photographs of children contrasted with a military parade and protest, and ends with pictures of Père-Lachaise.
'These unposed photos and the "stream of consciousness" of the montage betray the influences of the French nouvelle vague. In the same period van der Keuken made his first film for the IDHEC, Paris à l'aube (1957-1960), a poetic impression of a man walking through the city at dawn. Both productions mark the start of the symbiosis between film and photography that is so typical of his work' (The Dutch Photobook 170).
First edition; black-and-white photographs printed in gravure, captions in Dutch, French, English, and German; flecked grey/blue cloth-covered boards, titles stamped to spine and front in blue, light spotting as usual; blue dust-jacket, titles printed in grey on spine and front, light sunning and soiling to spine, near-fine; [68]pp (on double leaves).
Photography Between Covers; Regards sur un siècle de photographie à travers Le Livre 130; The Photobook A History, I pp248-9; The Open Book pp196-7; Books from the Auer Collection p423; Eyes on Paris pp316-317; The Dutch Photobook 170-171.
'These unposed photos and the "stream of consciousness" of the montage betray the influences of the French nouvelle vague. In the same period van der Keuken made his first film for the IDHEC, Paris à l'aube (1957-1960), a poetic impression of a man walking through the city at dawn. Both productions mark the start of the symbiosis between film and photography that is so typical of his work' (The Dutch Photobook 170).
First edition; black-and-white photographs printed in gravure, captions in Dutch, French, English, and German; flecked grey/blue cloth-covered boards, titles stamped to spine and front in blue, light spotting as usual; blue dust-jacket, titles printed in grey on spine and front, light sunning and soiling to spine, near-fine; [68]pp (on double leaves).
Photography Between Covers; Regards sur un siècle de photographie à travers Le Livre 130; The Photobook A History, I pp248-9; The Open Book pp196-7; Books from the Auer Collection p423; Eyes on Paris pp316-317; The Dutch Photobook 170-171.
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