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Simplicity, divine quality, touchstone of the beautiful

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Photography
Raoul Coutard Film-maker
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Finalement les peintres, je veux dire quand ils faisaient leurs images, ça a toujours été des images très statiques, à part Damien Latour qui lui a fait passer dans ses pastels des regards, que les photographes réussissent à avoir de temps en temps. La photographie, à l'époque, c'était l'instantané, c'est ce qui faisait la grande différence avec la peinture. Et dans une certaine mesure je suis assez content que les photographes aient réussi à se dégager de ce système d'essayer de vouloir imiter la peinture, parce que maintenant c'est devenu carrément un art propre je veux dire, qui a sa culture et ses fondements. C'est...

[Q] Et elles sont devenues quoi ces photos?

Mes photos j'en ai toujours chez moi. Sur l'Indochine j'en ai encore pas mal. Parce que... Quand je suis revenu au deuxième séjour, je me suis engagé au service cinéma des armées. Bon à l'époque eux comme ils étaient prudents ils envoyaient personne là-bas parce qu'ils n'avaient pas envie d'y aller. Donc on allait là pour s'y engager mais on faisait partie d'un autre service, dont ils s'occupaient mais qu'ils n'étaient pas obligés de fournir en personnel, ce qui leur permettait de pouvoir se parer des plumes du paon et... Donc là cette partie là, comme j'étais photographe j'ai fait beaucoup de photos. Alors il y en a un certain nombre que j'ai faites, qui étaient en couleur d'ailleurs, qui sont les photos qui datent des années 50, donc pratiquement un demi-siècle, qui étaient faites en Kodachrome. J' ai fait avec mon fils qui est informaticien, on a commencé à faire un DVD sur les photos d'Indochine, bon un DVD, pour l'instant on a fait qu'une démo où il y a une soixantaine de photos. Mais enfin quand on aura le courage de poursuivre la suite, il y en aura un peu plus. Voilà. Bon les autres, je les ai mais il faut que je les trie, que je les annote, parce que c'est mis dans les classements comme on faisait dans le temps c'est-à-dire dans des petites pochettes où tout est mis mais si on veut vraiment l'exploiter il faudra que j'essaie de trouver avant ma disparition le temps de pouvoir les trier.

[Q] Elles sont à Paris?

Elles sont à Paris, oui.

In the end, painters... I mean when they were doing their illustrations, they were always very static illustrations, except for Damien Latour who, through his pastels, conveyed glances that photographers manage to grasp from time to time. At the time, it was snapshot photography, which was the big difference with painting. And to a certain extent I'm quite happy that photographers have managed to free themselves from this system of trying to imitate paintings, because now... I mean it has actually become a proper art form, which has its own culture and its own foundations. It's...

[Q] And what happened to these photos?

My photos, I still have some at home. I still have quite a few from Indochina. Because... When I came back for the second time, I enlisted in the army's Film Unit. So at the time, they were cautious because since they didn't want to go, they didn't send anyone over there. So we went there to enlist but we were part of another unit, that they managed but for which they didn't need to provide employees, which enabled them to take all of the credit and... So at that time, since I was a photographer I took a lot of photos. So a certain amount of the ones I took, which were in colour in fact, are photos dating back to the fifties, so practically half a century, which were taken in Kodachrome. With my son, who is a computer scientist, we started to make a DVD of the photos from Indochina. Well, a DVD... at the moment all we've made is a demo with about sixty photos. But, I mean... when we'll feel up to it, there will be a few more. That's it. So the others, I have them but I need to sort them, to annotate them, because they are in those old fashioned folders where everything is stored in little pockets but if we really want to process them, I'll have to find the time to sort them before I die.

[Q] Are they in Paris?

Yes, they are in Paris.

French cinematographer, Raoul Coutard (1924-2016) was twice nominated for the César Award for best cinematography which he won in 1978 for 'Le Crabe-tambour'. He made over 75 films and documentaries, including 'À Bout de Souffle', Le Mépris' and 'Band à Part'. He was the most acclaimed French cinematographer of his generation and one of the key figures of the New Wave.

Listeners: Bernard Cohn

Benard Cohn is a French filmmaker and writer, who has directed five films as well as numerous documentaries and television series. As an assistant director, he worked with many important filmmakers, including Luis Buñuel, François Jacob, Otto Preminger and Woody Allen. He was a founding member of the Ciné-Qua-Non cinema club and has acted as editor and translator for various publications on the world of cinema.

Bernard Cohn est un réalisateur et écrivain français, ayant réalisé cinq film ainsi que de nombreux reportages et séries télévisées. En tant qu'assistant réalisateur, il a travaillé avec plusieurs grands cinéastes, notamment Luis Buñuel, François Truffaut, Otto Preminger et Woody Allen. Il fut membre fondateur du ciné-club Ciné-Qua-Non et a participé à la rédaction et traduction en anglais, de plusieurs ouvrages sur le cinéma.

Tags: Kodachrome, Damien Latour

Duration: 2 minutes, 38 seconds

Date story recorded: October 2004

Date story went live: 24 January 2008