Abvent Group
Graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs of Paris.
Represented by the Agence VU'. Like many other French photographers of his generation, Denis Darzacq worked in press photography which forged his artistic work and sharpened his eye for contemporary society. Darzacq takes the time for patient work in the field in direct contact with his subject. However he has broken with reporting and coverage-as-testimony in favour of a more analytical approach which has led to formally cohesive series. The close-ups in the series Only Heaven still show the artist’s personal involvement. However, the overhead views in Ensembles and the front views in Bobigny centre ville and in Casques de Thouars show the growing distance between the artist and his subject and even indicate the artist in the process of retreating.
Above all, Denis Darzacq has become convinced that planned imagesparadoxically serve to reflect society with greater acuity. Since 2003 he has turned to staging which involves the principle of disruption. The pose or condition of the people staged contrasts with the established order without spilling over into the spectacular. Nude men and women walk through suburban settings; others seem suspended in urban settings or among supermarket shelves. Handicapped persons repossess public space. In the recent series Recomposition I, Darzacq used digital editing for the first time to relentlessly pursue this edgy logic.
The body comes across as the common denominator in Denis Darzacq’s work. There are exceptions – the reflections of light sources in Fakestars, the more abstract motifs such as the still lives in Recomposition II– which convey the same sense of observation of the contemporary world. DenisDarzacq approaches the body like a sculpture; a sculpture of social commentary, for the body cannot be disassociated from the context in which it interacts. The body is the tool used to critique the problems and barriers inflicted on different groups of people, in particular disaffected youth from the outskirts of life, and, like in Act, populations on the fringe of society. Denis Darzacq puts his finger on the social contradictions and restrictions. He also beckons the viewer, through the breach created by movement stripped of meaning, to affirm ever-more complex identity than what meets the eye, and to assume a form of freedom where freedom seems to have vanished.
Léo Scheer (2004) 60 pages 22x27 cm ISBN :2915280401
Limited to 35 copies in plexiglass slipcase, With an original print, 28 x 23 cm, numbered and signed. The print Jeune homme casqué 01 is joined to this copy. The book signed and numbered : Filigranes (2009) 56 pages 23.5 x 29 cm ISBN 13 : 978-2-35046-163-2
Niépce Award 2012 Handi-Books Award 2012 Special Award of the jury Actes Sud (2011) Texts by : Michel Frizot et Virginie Chardin 136 pages 24 x 30cm ISBN :2330002084
Actes Sud (2006) Text by : Marie Desplechin 159 pages 20,8 x 15,6 cm ISBN :2742761535
Actes sud /Altadis (2001) Français / Español 64 pages 19,4 x 10,4 cm ISBN :2-7427-3137-7
The 1st edition of "The Fall" was published in 2007. The book was a huge succes and was sold out quickly. So, Filigranes and Denis Darzacq decided to publish an enhanced edition of this book with new images, a different format, a new layout and an unpublished text by Marie Desplechin. Signed copy Filigranes (2013) 68 pages 19,5 x 22 cm ISBN 13 :...
29 short videos (from 10 seconds to 1 min 30) filmed with a cell phone by one of Bobigny’s inhabitants Director : Denis Darzacq Editing : Guerric Catala, Denis Darzacq 2004-2007
Atlantica Éditions - Collection Galaxie photo, 2005 Text : Dominique Darzacq Size: 14cm x 19cm - 40 pages Language : French ISBN : 2843947340