Au bord de l ombre

This monographic book offers an amazing perspective on Gérard Rondeau's work, from the singular backstages of museums to his numerous portraits of contemporary painters and writers taken for the newspaper Le Monde ; from his journey with the writer Bernard Frank, to his very committed work with the humanitarians of Doctors without Borders, and his collaboration with the great painter Rebeyrolle.

« J'avais posé le monde sur la table » evokes Rondeau's back and forths between the siege of Sarajevo and Eastern France, in a geography of the traces of wars, but also of time - 14-18, 1992-1996, a singular trip which relies both on the visits of the places of the First World War and these of Bosnia-Herzegovina at war.

The confrontation between the images is done in a geographical way – a travel photography – but also in a very pictural way – the landscapes of here and there -. A Morocco in tribute to Delacroix is put in a conversation with a chronic from Rheims, in a very personal reading of the city through the young rebels of the Grand Jeu.

We can also discover Rondeau's very personal photographs, both poetic and surrealistic, especially through his work « sur l'écrit » and through the one on the body.

The book is a catalogue of the eponym exhibition happening in Rheims during winter 2015-2016. Then, it also focusses on the Champagne Region, anonymus portraits taken at the end of the 80s as the singular cathedral approaches.

The book comes with texts of Christian Caujolle, Jean Clair, Philippe Dagen, Bernard Frank, Olivier Frébourg, Jean-Paul Kauffmann, Bernard Noël.