Jean Gaumy(born 1948) is a French photographer and filmmaker who has been associated withMagnum Photossince 1977 who has specialised in depictions of isolated or confined communities and groups.[1]

Jean Gaumy Self-portrait

Early life and education

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Jean Gaumy was born on 28 August 1948 in Royan Pontaillac (Charente-Maritime), France. He attended schools inToulouseandAurillac,then undertook his higher education inRouen,before working as editor andfreelancephotographer in the Paris-Normandy area.

Career

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Gaumy was a member of the Viva agency before he was recruited for FrenchGammain 1973 byRaymond Depardon.In 1975 he undertook extended documentation of subjects never before broached in France; the first, "L’Hopital" was published in 1976; the second, "Les Incarcérés", on French prisons was made in 1976 and published in 1983 with extracts from his personal journal written in the first person. In 1976 his work was noticed byMarc RiboudandBruno BarbeyatRencontres d’Arlesand at their invitation in 1977 he joinedMagnum.

Pleine Mer

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In 1984 Gaumy started a cycle of winter voyages aboard so-called "classic"trawlerswhich continued until 1998 and led to the publication in 2001 ofPleine Mer( "Men at Sea" ). Gaumy was aware that the open-deck trawlers, the boats on which he was photographing, were disappearing, like the Portuguese schooners that had fished for cod on theGrand Banks,their men line-fishing from opendories;competition from South American fishing vessels was too strong. Peter Nichols commended Gaumy's project and the book in a July 2002Guardianreview; "Men at Seais both a rare and a beautiful book, and an archival testament of a world fast slipping away. Or already gone. "[2]François Cardi's 2014 paper on the sociology of deepwater fishing uses an extended analysis and comparison of the earlier mid-century fishing-boat imagery ofAnita Contiwith that of Jean Gaumy.[3]

Filmmaker

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In 1984 Gaumy made his first filmLa Boucane,and it was nominated for aCésarin 1986 for best documentary. He followed it with other film all broadcast by French and European televisions, and winning further awards. In 1986 he made his first trip toIranduring thewar,continuing visits there until 1997. His filmJean-Jacques(1987) was made during two years chronicling the town ofOcteville-sur-Mer,where he lived, through the eyes of Jean-Jacques unjustly considered the "village idiot". His third feature-length filmMarcel, prêtre(1994) was shot inRaulhac(Auvergne, Cantal) over a period of several years.

During 2005 he researched locations in preparation for the filmSous-Marinfor which he spent four months underwater aboard anuclear attack submarine.Since then, his numerous works on human confinement have been coupled with a more contemplative photographic approach. After making his film aboard a nuclear submarine, in 2008 he started a photographic reconnaissance extending from theArcticseas to the contaminated lands ofChernobylin theUkraine(2008, 2009) andFukushima,Japan (2012). Concurrently, within the same project, he started a series of mountain landscapes that will be published in the bookD’après Nature(2010) and for which received a secondNadar Prize.During 2010 and 2011 Gaumy re-embarked on voyages aboard the "Terrible", the latest French submarine SNLA dedicated to nuclear deterrence, and in 2013 joined the international scientific team BB Polar with which he went toSpitsbergenandGreenland(2013, 2014 and 2016)

Bibliography

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  • Jean Gaumy,Actes Sud. Coll PhotoPoche. Text by Alain Bergala, 2010
  • D'après Nature,Xavier Barral,France. English, Italian and French texts, 2010
  • Pleine Mer,La Martinière, France, 2001,ISBN978-2-7324-2732-4;Men at Sea,Harry N. Abrams, USA, 2002,ISBN978-0-8109-1198-7;Mare Aperto,Contrasto, Italy, 2002;Auf hoher See,Knesebeck, Germany, 2002
  • Le Livre des Tempêtes à bord de l’Abeille Flandre,Seuil, France, 2001,ISBN978-2-02-042622-0
  • Le Pont de Normandie,Le Cherche-Midi, France, 1995,ISBN978-2-86274-334-9
  • Les Incarcérés,L’Etoile/Cahiers du Cinéma, France, 1983,ISBN978-2-86642-009-3
  • L’Hôpital,Contrejour, France, 1976,ISBN978-2-85949-003-4

Filmography

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  • Sous-Marin(video, color, 5x25'), 2006
  • Marcel, Prêtre(16mm, color, 42'), 1994
  • Jean-Jacques(16mm, color, 52'), 1987
  • La Boucane(16mm, color, 35'), 1984[4]

Awards and nominations

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  • Institut de France (Academy des Beaux Arts), 2016
  • NamedPeintre Officiel de la Marine,2008
  • Prix Nadar,France, 2001 et 2010[5]
  • Prix du film document de Belfort (for "Jean-Jacques" ) France, 1987
  • Nomination for aCésar Award(forLa Boucane) (short-documentary category) France, 1986
  • Prix du premier film au Festival du Film Ethnologique, Paris, France, 1984

Collections

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References

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  1. ^Jena Gaumy person entry at the BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE.BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE.
  2. ^Nichols, Peter (26 July 2002)."Review: Men at Sea by Jean Gaumy".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved17 April2020.
  3. ^François Cardi, « Pour une sociologie de la pêche en haute mer », La nouvelle revue du travail [En ligne], 5 | 2014, uploaded 12 December 2014, consulté le 16 avril 2020. URL:http://journals.openedition.org/nrt/1981;DOI:https://doi.org/10.4000/nrt.1981
  4. ^Sentilhes, A. (2007). Regards croisés sur la Normandie: Farid Abdelouahab et Pascal Servain, La Normandie des photographes au nord de la Seine, 1851–2006, 2006. Études Normandes, 56(1), 75–77.
  5. ^"Gens d'Images".Archived fromthe originalon 11 July 2011.Retrieved11 July2011.
  6. ^Magnum Photos Preliminary Inventory of Its Collection in the Photography Collection at the Harry Ransom Center[1]Archived26 November 2012 at theWayback Machine