Gilbert Garcin has the eye of a master, despite a late-in-life entry to artistry. At eighty-two, this Frenchman has practiced only fifteen years. He attributes his sunset career change to a search for “new life” and decision to attend photography classes following a professional life as owner of a lamp making company. As a man who spent his life creating objects of light, it seems an appropriate move into the realm of photographs. His skill with lighting is one of the defining characteristics of his pictures and he illuminates humanity both literally and figuratively. Visually, his scenes are glowing and balanced. Thematically, he illustrates common human truths in ways that are unexpected yet understandable and poignant.
Garcin reveals intimate musings about life and irony through his deceptively simple black and white prints. Using himself as model, Garcin inserts his own visage into each work as the character creation, “Mr. Everybody”. Mr. Everybody finds himself amidst scenes that the mind tells us must be artificial, but appear absolutely real to the eye. For instance, Lorsque le vent viendra (When the Wind Will Blow), presents our hero next to a single dandelion stalk, fluffy crown reaching above his head, while he in turn observes a single seed that has fallen to the ground at his feet. The size relation between Mr. Everybody and Dandelion is what you expect for a grown man standing under a tree, with the seed about the size of a park bench. Despite the impossible nature of this arrangement, the clarity and resolution of the image betray a lack of electronic tampering; Garcon uses no digital editing.
First, he constructs a miniature scene with common materials, like dandelion and seed, and photographs the tiny set. Next, he takes another photo of himself as if interacting with the first. From that second photo, he painstakingly cuts out his image and inserts the tiny figure onto the original photo; composing the finished print with Mr. Everybody and miniature scene seamlessly interacting as if men are accosted by giant dandelion seeds every day.
Adding to the allure of Garcin’s work, visually acuity is not his only achievement. The title, When the Wind Will Blow, refers to the longing expression with which Mr. Everybody observes the dandelion seed. He possesses a desire to soar on the wind, as if he and the seed will both take flight when, only if, the breeze puffs to carry them away. Until then, both will wait, and dream. In another scene, he is surrounded by twelve individual ropes, each forming a perfect circle, with one exception. It is on this imperfect round that he muses, naming the work Rien N'Est Parfait (Nothing is perfect). He is reminding viewers of how often we focus on the flaws while perhaps ignoring the boundless beauty and perfection surrounding us. He illuminates our frailty with nothing but rope and a facial expression, presenting a grasp of reality and human nature that could only come from a man late in life and long on wisdom.
