Reviews From Paris: The Art Shay Photos

The critics are starting to publish their views of the Art Shay exhibit in Paris. From leJDD.fr:

L'objectif d'Art Shay se promène dans tous les replis du melting pot américain. Une écriture en noir et blanc, sans concession, analytique, parfois poétique, presque toujours ironique. Sous son oeil laser, on découvre le mime Marcel Marceau sans fard, pilier de bar ou jouant au billard, le fringant propriétaire du magazine de charme Playboy, Hugh Hefner, entouré de quatre playmates encore très sages ou la chanteuse Diana Ross dans sa loge avec les Supremes. Au fil des reportages, il s'en donne à coeur joie. "J'ai photographié des figures comme Saul Bellow, Isaac Bashevi Singer, Hemingway, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Hoffa, Martin Luther King, tous les présidents des Etats-Unis depuis Hoover, des gangsters et des mafieux", égraine-t-il.

Translation (please add a better translation as a comment, below):

Art Shay walks travels in all areas of the American melting pot. Writing in black and white, without concession, analytical, sometimes poetic, almost always ironic. Through his laser eye, one discovers the mime Marcel Marceau unvarnished, a pillar of the bar or playing pool, the dashing owner of Playboy magazine, Hugh Hefner, surrounded by four playmates , or singer Diana Ross in her dressing room with the Supremes. In his descriptions, he gives heart to joy. "I photographed figures like Saul Bellow, Isaac Singer Bashevi, Hemingway, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Hoffa, Martin Luther King, all the presidents of USA since Hoover, gangsters and Mafia," he says.

And from Les Echoes:

Souvent, il s'est exposé physiquement pour capter des moments rares. Il dissimulait alors son appareil dans une valise. Plus que le regard ou le cadra- ge, chez Art Shay, comme chez les autres grands photographes, les images racontent plus que ce qu'el- les représentent.

which may mean:

Often, it took great physical effort to capture rare moments. He hid his camera in a suitcase. More than the eye, in the work of Art Shay, as for other major photographers, the images tell more than that they represent.

Comments

[christine guilfoyle]

As per request for better translations:
leJDD.fr
Art Shay’s lens explores every layer of the American melting pot. Literature in black and white, his photos are uncompromising, analytical, sometimes poetic, almost always ironic. Through his laser vision we discover the mime artist Marcel Marceau without makeup; the barfly or the pool player; Hugh Hefner, the dashing owner of Playboy magazine, surrounded by four playmates; or singer Diana Ross in her dressing room with the Supremes. Presenting his photos, he joyfully enthuses: "I photographed figures like Saul Bellow, Isaac Singer Bashevi, Hemingway, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Hoffa, Martin Luther King, all the presidents of USA since Hoover, gangsters and Mafia."
Les Echoes:
Often, he put himself physically in danger to capture rare moments, hiding his camera in a suitcase. For Art Shay, as for other great photographers, the photos tell a bigger story than either eye or frame can contain.

[artshay]

I thank Christine Guilfoyle, a great English scholar, for her kind words but have to confess I missed photographing Isaac Bashevis Singer, one of the literary Gods I much esteem. Capturing the world of Singer with a camera would have been an esthetic privilege. Singer's near contemporary, Nelson Algren, a writer whose world I did photograph, and a writer Guilfoyle has studied intensely, was, as I am, a big fan of Singer's. In Algren's phrase about Chekhov, Singer was the kind of writer who could "put you in the room." That's the kind of photographer I've always aspired to be. Art Shay

[Christine Guilfoyle]

I thank Art Shay, great American photographer, for referring to me as 'a great English scholar' (cheque in the post Art) but the kind words were those of leJDD reporter who interviewed him. I merely translated them.

Coming to a room near you in March. Christine