One of best living photographers has been travelling all round France for the last six years, following a crazy idea: to capture the essence of the country just by going where his fancy takes him, “like a child” as he says. The National Library in Paris now shows the results.

It’s become almost an obsession of Depardon; to understand and document France, expose and question how it has changed. His latest project concentrates on the country’s landscapes which – although they often have little in common – all show how man’s intervention has little by little transformed the countryside. Using the best possible quality scans, thirty-six large format prints (1.60m x 2m) will be presented in a white-walled room, a neutral space, and none of the photos will have text explaining where they were taken (only the entrance to the following room gives details).

Depardon explains, “For me there are three types of France: the France of city centres with its franchises and parking lots; the France of the suburbs, and the France of small towns and villages. The France that I wanted to photograph is the one that I come from, that of the Tour de France, of roundabouts and small villages or medium-size towns, with small industrial or urban areas that all resemble each other and are seldom photographed.”

The second room shows some of the photographer’s previous work with photos and paintings by photographers and artists whose influence he acknowledges, such as Paul Strand and Walker Evans. You’ll also be able to se a selection of work documents for the current project.

A photo book is also being published to commemorate the exhibition. 336 pages, 315 photos. Price 56€ here, at Amazon.fr.

Want to see more of Raymond Depardon’s work? Two other exhibitions are also being held around the same time in the Magnum Galleries:

From 4th November – 8th January 2011
Magnum Gallery, 13 rue de l’Abbaye (Paris 6th arrondissement), exhibition in two parts: Errance, 1999-2000 and Territoires 2005-2010.
From 15th September 2010 a- 8th January 2011
Magnum Gallery, 19 rue Hégésippe Moreau (Paris 18th arrondissement), the series Manhattan Out and Correspondance New-yorkaise.

The exhibition La France de Raymond Depardon is at the BNF (here) from 30th September 2010 – 9th January 2011. Open from Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 7pm and Sundays from midday – 7pm. Closed Mondays and public holidays. Admission: 7€ / 5€

BNF site: www.bnf.fr