Motion Pictures

The comprehensive selection spans from famous series such as Uncommon Places and American Surfaces, to lesser-known projects that have never been exhibited in France. Also included are excerpts from the 1976 exhibition Signs of Life, in which Shore was commissioned to participate, as well as his most recent series (captured with camera-equipped drones), which is presented in Europe for the first time.

Stephen Shore was born in New York City in 1947, and started photographing at the age of nine. At 14, he approached Edward Steichen, who promptly purchased three of his images for the MoMA’s collection. In 1971, Shore became the first living photographer to be represented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was also one of the eight photographers featured in the groundbreaking 1975 New Topographics exhibition at the George Eastman House in Rochester: a showcase that redefined American landscape photography. At the same time, Shore was a pioneer of his generation: along with a small number of contemporaries, he championed colour photography as a recognised art form – producing complex and diverse works in which everyday scenes are transformed into meditative moments of reflection. 

‘Vehicular photography’ has been central to Shore’s work for over five decades. Driving to L.A. with his father in 1969, he began taking pictures out of the window of their car. During the 1970s and 1980s, he embarked on several more road trips across the US – yielding two of his most successful series: American Surfaces, and Uncommon Places. At the turn of the millennium, Shore once again started to capture the world from various means of transportation – shooting through the windows of cars, trains or planes. For his most recent project (2020 onwards), the artist branched out into drone photography – using aerial perspectives to document the relationship between America’s natural and man-made landscapes in the present day.