Gilbert Garcin: The Man Who is an Image

Overview

A long life is a grand opportunity to change your perspective as much as possible. This was very much the case for French photographer, Gilbert Garcin, who at the age of 65 left his lamp manufacturing company to pursue a career in trick photography. Two decades later, he has exhibited his works internationally, published several books and is now the subject of an exhibition at the Australian Centre for Photography as part of the HeadOn Photo Festival.

Cinematic is a term used to describe Garcin's work. Usually he superimposes a cut-out photo of himself, wearing an overcoat, onto a surreal landscape. The resulting image is that of a clownish Everyman, and occasionally his wife, exploring the kind of world that would make Ingmar Bergman blush. It is easy to become lost in one of these images, playfully running alongside Garcin in your mind's eye, and it is probably in this invitation that the cinematic is found in his work.

With Garcin there is always the sense of an epic universe surrounding a very personal, human joke. Make sure you come down to ACP this month and giggle beside him.

Image by Gilbert Garcin