Jean Gaumy

Presented in collaboration with Magnum Photos, an exhibition of two series by French photographer Jean Gaumy is currently on display at the Städtische Galerie Iserlohn, Germany continuing until 30 April 2017.

In the time from 1984 to 1998, Jean Gaumy embarked on four long voyages aboard an open-decked trawler – documenting the difficult and dangerous everyday lives of fishermen on the stormy Atlantic. The exhibited series Men at Sea encompasses a selection of outstanding works, veering between evocative poetry and harsh reality.

The Temptation of Landscape conveys a more serene yet equally profound relationship with nature. The series was created in the Piedmont region, in the course of solitary walks in the upper Cuneo valleys between France and Italy. Both abstract and emotional, the images capture the aridity and desolation of this mountain region with great intensity.

Born 1948 in the south-west of France, Jean Gaumy initially worked as an editor and photographer for a regional daily paper while studying literature in Rouen. In the early 1970s, he briefly worked for the Viva agency before joining Gamma in 1973 and becoming a member of Magnum Photos in 1977. Gaumy has created extensive reportages in Europe, Africa, Central America as well as in the Near East, particularly Iran.

For further information visit Städtische Galerie Iserlohn