Agnès Varda's photographic oeuvre is still relatively unknown, despite it being her first artistic activity. After obtaining a CAP [certificate of professional competence] in photography through evening classes, she began working for the Théâtre National Populaire, under the direction of Jean Vilar. In 1954, she presented her first exhibition in the courtyard of her home-studio on rue Daguerre, inviting her friends.
This exhibition presents both period prints made in Agnès Varda's darkroom as well as posthumous silver prints. It reveals the great interest and friendship with which Agnès Varda photographed her artist friends: Alexander Calder (1898-1976), Germaine Richier (1902-1959), Valentine Schlegel (1925-2021) and the couple Vera and Pierre Székely (1919-1994 and 1923-2001). She depicts both the artists and their work.
