Looking for
something to do next weekend?
Until 3
November, the Lucca Center of Contemporary Art (Lu.C.C.A) hosts “Henri Cartier
Bresson: Photographer”, a fascinating exhibition that may not rival the Uffizi’s
for size or grandeur but which displays an important collection of photographs
by the 20th Century’s original and greatest photojournalist.
The black
and white photographs provide a contrast to the wealth of earlier artwork that
we see so much of in Florence and are displayed elegantly on two floors of this
small museum in north-east Lucca. Cartier Bresson’s photographs, taken with his
beloved Leica camera, document the landmark events of his century through the
people that experienced them (Ghandi’s funeral, George VI’s coronation and the
days leading up to the Cultural Revolution in China, to name but a few).
Take his
photograph Berlin Wall from 1963. Yes,
it records a historical period, but the viewer’s attention is drawn to the
three men standing on what appears to be a post box, looking over the barrier.
At a first glance the position of these men recalls child-like curiosity and
determination to “see what’s on the other side”; prior to reading its caption, the
work appears almost whimsical. Then, one realizes that the objects in photograph
and the subject it depicts are physically much larger and far more significant than
kids peeping over the garden wall.
This mix of
the playful and the hard-hitting seems to characterize much of
Cartier-Bresson’s oeuvre, which often does depict children and captures its
subjects in movement, whether in France, Russia, China, Mexico, Italy, Spain,
India or America. However, the principal characteristic of these photographs is
the beauty of their composition… Cartier-Bresson trained as an artist and every
image is taken at the perfect moment, at the perfect angle, to capture a
perfectly balanced frame. All of this in spite of the fact that, as a street photographer,
little of his work was “set up”.
If you
can’t make it before the exhibition closes, Lucca is still well worth a weekend
visit for its own sake; the old centre is a lovely maze of old buildings,
squares and tiny streets, pasticcerie
and beautiful churches. So far, so like Florence? Perhaps, excepting the
enormous walls that surround the old town, which are topped by a wide,
tree-lined path and simply beg you to hire a bike and go for a leisurely cycle.
There is also the fascinating Piazza dell’Anfiteatro which conserves the shape
of the old Roman amphitheatre but is now full of little cafes and shops (FYI,
Top Gear once begun a challenge there!). Puccini was also born in Lucca, and
its Duomo is considered spectacular.
A bus
costing less than 15 euros (return) runs from Florence to Lucca regularly from
Via Fiume (near S.M.N station) and takes a little over an hour.
For more
information on the exhibition, see http://www.luccamuseum.com/HCB.php
- Sophia Dzwig, Intern at the BIF
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