In La Baule, on the embankments, in front of the casino, downtownto the station but also to Escoublacor to Guezy in the eastern districts, 35 photos have been exhibited in the open air since April 8 and until September 17. For the third consecutive year, La Baule has placed its trust in Paris Match for this photo walk, this year dedicated to the great hours of the automobile. A walk with Sheila driving her Ford Mustang in 1967 or of Charles Aznavour in Alpha Romeo in 1959. Color or black and white photos that make this immense feeling of freedom that the car may have symbolized 1950s to 1980s.
– Helen Roussel
“cigarettes, speed, it was another era” – Laurence Briand deputy mayor
For this it was necessary to peel 15 million images in the archives of Paris-Match, and peel 3803 numbers. An unpublished selection by curator and former photo editor of Paris Match Marc Brincourt. “Most of them, I knew them by heart, like that of Jacques Chirac who tinkers with the engine of his 403, or that of François Sagan who drives barefoot in his Jaguar to better feel the vibrations of the engine. I already had them in mind” says the commissioner. There is also that of Georges Pompidou, with his cigarette sitting in front of his 4L a few days before his election. “His security was bitching when he used his beloved Porsche because he was going too fast and his police couldn’t keep up with him. The cigarette, the speed. See, that was another time“exclaims Laurence Briand, deputy mayor of La Baule.
– Helen Roussel
– Helen Roussel
Jean-Paul Belmondo as a youngster in his raspberry Ferrari, François Sagan barefoot at the wheel of his Jaguar
Pictures like the one with John Paul Belmondo in his raspberry-colored Ferrari, young and radiant in 1962 or even Juliette Greco in front of the Café de Flore in Paris in 1959 at the wheel of his convertible Alpha Romeo, a symbol of freedom, but also of emancipation for women. Stars who are one with the car, half flesh, half metal.
– Helen Roussel
You have to evolve but not forget the past for all that” – Laurence Briand
An exhibition against the current of the times where the car is not in holy odor. Laurence Briand willingly concedes this. “But it’s our story. La Baule has always had a very strong link with the automobile, beautiful cars, there were even races on the beach at one time. It’s not because you have to evolve and invent the car of tomorrow that we must forget about the past. On the contrary, it is a link”. An exhibition of the car’s past glory, “not sure that it would have had its place despite everything in a city like Paris for example”slips Commissioner Marc Brincourt.
– Helen Roussel
Exhibition “La Baule, automotive passion”‘: 35 pictures to discover until September 17 on the embankment, in front of the casino, in the city center, in Escoublac and Guézy.