Paris, France — The Italian photographer Paolo Roversi was born in the scenic Italian city of Ravenna, known for its incredible mosaics, in 1947. It was the same year that Edwin Herbert Land invented the Polaroid process. Roversi in his 50- year career as one of the world’s leading fashion photographers would often use Polaroids in his works along with a host of techniques and experimental journeys into exposure, lighting and the use of special papers for his prints. The Palais Galliera, the fashion museum of the city of Paris, is holding a retrospective of his works featuring photographs taken over his career spanning five decades and showcasing the results of his powerful techniques. Bringing together some 140 works including previously unseen images, Polaroid prints and archives from magazine and catalogues, this is the first ever monograph devoted to Paolo Roversi in Paris.

The photographer moved to Paris in 1973 and since then has worked for the most prestigious magazines including Elle, Marie Claire, Vogue France, Vogue Italia and the Egoïste. Here fashion takes on a different feel, a unique feel where black and white and specks of color reign supreme. The portraits reflect a who’s who of fashion models with striking photographs of Kate Moss, Kirsten Owen, Lucie de la Falaise and Natalia Vodianova. Roversi has a penchant for long exposure times and so the photographs are at times blurry adding to their mystery. « A long pose gives the soul time to come to the surface. And allows time for the unexpected to come into play, » explains Roversi. This often results in the ethereal. There are the dramatic large formats. Not an outdoors type photographer, he works practically exclusively in the studio. And when he takes a portrait he becomes a human rolleiflex, standing next to the camera instead of behind it so he can interact with his subject. He has created a timeless body of work evident in the show for which he himself was the artistic director.

Polaroid and Roversi were born in the same year and met in 1980 and remained inseparable for three decades. And contrary to most people’s use of the Polaroid process – instant development – he spends time with the process, working his own magic with Polaroid’s delicate emulsions. He has even coined a term Paoloroid. Polaroids are just one, albeit important part of Paolo Roversi own photographic language, which accepts chance and accidents as opportunities to develop his style. About his Polaroid experiments he says, « There’s a minute during which you pray. »

The Paolo Roversi exhibition is on until July 14th. Workshops for children and young adults as well as guided tours in French and English one Sunday a month are all on the agenda. 10, Avenue Pierre Ier de Serbie, Paris 16th, France. Tuesdays to Sundays 10am to 6pm, until 9pm on Thursdays. Closed Mondays. https://www.palaisgalliera.paris.fr/en
©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette