Nearly 100 photos featuring the biggest names in French Film are showcased in New York Mon Amour, A View of French Cinema, an exhibition featuring the work of Catherine Verret Vimont. With an inside access via her former role as Deputy Director of Unifrance Film and Executive Director of the French Film Office/Unifrance USA in New York, Verret Vimont snapped candid images with her camera.
Reflecting on her work, she wrote recently:
“I was living in New York and had a fantastic job promoting French cinema in the United States. I did that for 32 years. They were wonderful times, but obviously I didn’t have a photographer at hand. So I began pressing the button of my Olympus automatic. I did it in very little time, with complete amateurishness and great obstinacy. All the artists were incredibly cooperative, patient and generous. There was a spirit of lightheartedness and fun. It was this same enthusiasm, this same kindness and this same encouragement that I met with when I asked for their permission to present their photos in the exhibit that is on view today. They were chosen together with the artists.
These photos are a small sampling of the photos I have taken. Some are out of focus, but I have a certain fondness for “le flou”…fuzziness.
So let us remain a bit vague about dates and places. These were happy times with great artists whom I love and whose talent I admire. It all began in NEW YORK, my base, my motor, my source of strength …and with my friends.
To all the artists – actors, directors, producers…many thanks.”
New York Mon Amour, A View of French Cinema continues through October 4th at the Furman Gallery in the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center. The exhibition is free.
Pictured above are Catherine Verret Vimont with Isaach de Bankolé and Jean Reno at party celebrating the opening of the exhibition.
