Académie Desprez

In 1994 Gilbert Blin commissioned a young Swedish photographer: Kristoffer Thessman. The commission was about the work of Desprez at Haga. And more precisely the four buildings still visible today: the Copper Tents , the Chinese Pagoda, the Orangerie and the Ruins. The Echo Temple whose attribution is doubtful was added to these four.

According to Roland Barthes, photography is a medium of Death; and nowhere is this statement so paradoxically logical as when a photographer fixes the image of what seems less transitory: architecture.

It is also very relevant that, with their appearance, all the names of these buildings have been changed through the centuries. They were known initially as, respectively: " le Corps des Gardes Des Dragons, le Pavillon Chinois, l’ Auberge de la Cour, Les Fondations du Chateau et la Salle Isolée à jour". In terms of Art, they are history and they have one of their own, starting by their name.

It is intended to keep the history accurate that these pictures exist.

Originally these are photographs commissioned for a lesson about the life and work of Desprez given by Gilbert Blin at an exhibition. La Chimère de Monsieur Desprez was presented at Le Louvre from February to April 1994. Régis Michel, curator of the exhibition, decided to present Desprez as a neurotic artist, a visionary, whose work was made only of "caprices" and fantasy.

The exhibition, though very beautiful, wasn’t presenting or mentioning, the work of an architect builder; a qualification that Desprez could, by proof, aspire to. The idea therefore came to complete, to bridge the gap, by the medium of reality by excellence, photography, in order to show the students some of the quality of Desprez, as architect of his time.

Thessman’s work went far beyond a simple illustration and archive documentation. In 1994, at the start of his career in photography, Kristoffer Thessman made a very professional work. Taking around 100 pictures over a few days. Then, he selected 25 photographs, showing the buildings through different angles from general view to precise details.

The pictures in black and white are taken in winter, when the landscape is full of snow and therefore, show the strong character of the architectural work and the discipline of the architect. It is true that the timeless treatment reminds us of early photographic architectural studies. Dark in tone and mood, the pictures describe a world of melancholy and reflection.

The Poetry of photographs rests in their relation with graphics and their own beauty as photography. The feeling given by Thessman expresses the broken dream of Gustave III and Desprez to make of Haga a perfect place of peace, combining nature and civilisation.

The photographs show such a quality and the work of Desprez appears so beautifully that the Académie Desprez wishes to share them with others.

In order to work on this project which could take the shape of a portfolio, an exhibition or a book, the Académie Desprez is seeking for a writer, able to comment on this collection of photographs.

Catalogue of Photographs