On my final day in Arles I went to see Nicolas Floc’h‘s marvelous exhibit. When I first entered the large space, I was somewhat disappointed. On the left-hand wall were several large, framed prints, each of a single colour. Opposite, on a diagonal partition bisecting the room was a grid of smaller framed prints with different colours in each column and each row showing a top-to-bottom darkening gradient of the image above it. These were all images taken in different spots and depths of the Mississippi. But, as you turn a corner, to view the other side of the partition and the other 2 walls of the space and a small, windowed alcove, you discover something much more interesting. There are large B&W prints of spots travelled to along the Mississippi and its many tributaries and feeder rivers with a tall stack of colour images showing the colours of light in the water at different depths at that location.
The irony of being in France and seeing photos of the Mississippi River.
Especially from a French photographer