Saturday, September 19, 2020

French photographer Sarah Moon at MAM

 


Sarah Moon’s retrospective just opened at Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris on Thursday. It is astonishing. I always thought Sarah Moon was British. She is French (79), born in Vernon near Giverny. Her family escaped during the war to London. She became a top model and changed her name when she switched to photography.
Her dreamy campaigns for Biba and Cacherel are legendary. She shot campaigns for Chanel, Dior, Christian Lacroix, Comme des Garçons, Valentino. There is an inimitable elegance, a mystery to her work.
Wa
lking through the exhibit words came to me like:
                                             poetry,

                    
Evocative, atmospheric, poignant, enigmatic,
                                  Fantasie, surreal, dolls,
                       Dreamlike, fairy tales, touching,
       Shape shape shape, fade in - fade out,  Bonnard, phantom, magical.   What words come to you?

                           This portrait of Sarah Moon is from a story in Russh.
“All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow” Leo Tolstoy ❤️🐻

23 comments:

  1. I loved being moved..and you were!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Otherworldly. She was a beauty in every way.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm not at all familiar with her or her work. I'm so very glad you shared this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Onirique. Poétique. She rocked my world in the '70s and '80s. I would so love to see this exhibit!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alison Miles10:48 AM

    Merci beaucoup! Thank you so much for this - I was not aware of her - now I want to come to Paris to see the exhibition!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bonelle11:07 AM

    How lovely that Paris constantly brings to our attention artists we may not have been familiar with in these fabulous shows/retrospectives. And how lovely that you bring them to us. I hope Ms Moon gets to see this...do you know if she was involved in compiling this retrospective? Her work is dreamy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. If the artist is living they are very much involved, getting prints made, the concept, tons of things. There is no other way to do it.

    The exhibit is on to Jan 10

    Sarah Moon is Very well-known inthe Fashion world...not so much in general

    Yes she was a big influence in the 60s, 70s. She fit the mood to a T.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I came very close to shooting a Hanes Hosiery ad with Sara Moon. My heart broke when the client decided that she was too avant-guard for their middle-class brand.
    C'est dommage!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Owl’s Head11:20 AM

    Oh, Carol, a wonderful gift. Your life is so RICH. You are my hero- have a dream, make it come true- your life in Paris has made mine so much richer! Hugs, K
    PS Tony basked in this offering as well. I sent it along to a young photographer friend, Lauren. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I had the pleasure of shooting with Sarah three times in Paris- once for a
    US/international TV commercial and for two print executions.Elegant all.
    DZ dans les vignes

    ReplyDelete
  11. Enchanting! Thanks for introducing her to me, Carol, as I was unaware of her until seeing this. Magnifique.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sharon3:13 PM

    Your sentiments/words describing this amazing artist(Sarah Moon) has moved me enormously...I ditto all of them esp “serendipitous seduction “ taken from the text she=raptionous (a word? ) poetry for moi! And intoxicating++++... merci for making my Saturday!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you Sharon ;)
    I was scribbling down words onthe program at the exhibit..in a sort of trance-like state..

    ReplyDelete
  14. It came to Paris via a museum in Hamburg
    Imthink it will travel to the US too, NYC

    ReplyDelete
  15. Bill Ternay10:25 PM

    Wow! Any books outon her photos?

    ReplyDelete
  16. GwenEllyn10:28 PM

    Merci beaucoup. C'est formidable !

    ReplyDelete
  17. Helen R10:30 PM

    What a great photographer! Wish this would come to NY.

    ReplyDelete
  18. What an amazing photographer! Thanks for sharing Carol. I learn things from your blog all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I miss Paris so much & I always get so happy when I see your recent post in my mailbox.This post was so different -I knew nothing about Sarah Moon before and I loved it.. Your passion & love for Paris show up in every post (and your watercolors too!) -just want to say thank you for generously sharing with all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks again for your wonderful blog and photos! Since I am a visual person more than a word person, I love that you have lots of photos or paintings and just enough words!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love my emails from you Thank you merci beaucoup. Sometimes your little messages are the best part of my day.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thanks a lot for the wonderful article on your blog, it's so nice !!!

    We are still at the fair until tonight (very hot...)

    I have to add any informations about the Rivoli Panorama on my website, probably next week.

    Seee you soon, have a nice sunday

    ReplyDelete
  23. It's funny how things stay with you. As soon as I saw the first photo I knew it was from either Biba or Cacherel. I always loved her photographs, thanks for reminding me.

    ReplyDelete

Love hearing from you