La Générale En Manufacture | Political Photography At Its Best At The Polka
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Political Photography At The Polka

Political Photography At Its Best At The Polka

The Polka Gallery is a family project. It was co-founded by brother and sister over ten years ago. Slowly but at a steady pace, The Polka Gallery has gained its own spot in the artistic culture of the Light City.  Although there are all Kinds of themes, most of the work hanged in its walls has a strong political message to convey. Read on to know exactly why you should go visit this gallery next time you go to Paris.

Family Business

Brother and sister Edouard Genestar and Adélie de Ipanema founded the gallery more than ten years ago in 2007. It has slowly become a must for all photography-lovers who visit or reside permanently in Paris. Attention comes from more than one side because they manage the gallery, a magazine and an internet site.

The Magazine

The Polka Magazine is a quarterly publication. The creator of it is Alain Genestar, a well-known author that has published books like Le Baraquement américain (1998) and Expulsion (2008) among others. The magazine´s content is always amazing. To be honest, I have gone to the Polka Gallery only to pick up the Magazine in more than one occasion. They explore from a completely open mind contemporary and modern photography. It has been a great source to discover new artists and photography currents. It has a 50,000 copies run printed every three months and is distributed in France as well as most major capitals in the world.

polka magazine
The Polka Magazine

The Gallery

There are six exhibitions going on every year and the gallery also represents 15 photographers. The entire space holds 300 square meters and only displays work done by photographers who have a message and/or a form that questions the document itself as it is conceived in modern times. Both spaces in which the gallery is divided have the same theme and most of the times the photographs feature interventions by the authors that give a different approach to the artistry of photographers.

The Polka Gallery
The Polka Gallery

In my experience, I have always found remarkable and sometimes even ground-breaking pieces that have made me think of the possibilities that could be opened for us photographers if we would just open up to have another point of view. Pictures can become the canvas for enhanced pieces that can start with reality and end up being an enhanced mixture of paint and picture.

Current Shows

Just like I urge you to go see the Pop Art Exhibition at the Musée Maillol, I also urge you to attend the Matt Henry exhibition called “Southern Gothic and Other Stories”. I said it before but it is hard to stress it enough: I love storytelling photography and this Welsh photographer is a high exponent of such practices. Besides, the darkness of the Southern states of the USA make the exhibition quite compelling because darkness can most of the times enhance imagination. I just love projecting my own stories to the blank spaces that I find in photography.

If you ever come to Paris, don´t miss the Polka Gallery, it is a definite must.