Jean-Louis Fernandez was the guest of the troupe of the Comédie-Française for a period of one year, invited to photograph the troupe and the wide range of work, rehearsals, performances and tours. He has presented a report covering a dozen or so different productions, capturing them live, at the very moment, or rather diverse moments, of the troupe’s existence as it has continued over the centuries, since 1680, and still does in its day-to-day work.

Is it the special grain of the black and white prints? Or the accurate focus? Is it the contrast and textures captured as if in relief (indeed, each and every contrast backstage in a theater, or on a face, or seen on an actor’s skin as reflected in a mirror)? Is it the moment chosen, the single moment, framed and set apart in the course of time? Is it the understanding of an original situation, unprecedented, within an operational situation (a rehearsal, a moment in the green room, make-up and so on)? I am unable to analyze the cause and effect of the instant immediate emotional response to photos taken by Jean-Louis Fernandez, nor the feeling, or the certainty, that there is a presence, a tangent as sharp as for love, where feeling and certainty are strangely compatible, presenting a truth on theater, on drama, and not just for our Comédie-Française.

Beyond the places, the faces and situations familiar to me, I see an idea which, while more general, is quite concrete and tangible, an idea both timeless and set in the present, set in the time of our work, and of our collective existence as a troupe. I can see it in the masks of our flesh, in our faces ready for make-up, for hairdressing, and for our roles. I can see it in our posture and the expression in our eyes backstage, whether dreaming, or pretending to be asleep while waiting to act; in our debates and discussions, in our very private way of being together while also distinct. But it is not so much that I see this, for such moments are well-known, and have been photographed again and again. But rather it is a conscious experience, a confronting sensation, with heart-rending pinpoint accuracy, impossible to render in words, for it is energy in action, as an act, the energy of this photographer with such sharp vision.

Denis Podalydès, Actor, director, and permanent member of the Comédie-Française

Text quoted in captions by Éric Ruf, administrative director, actor and honorary member of the Comédie-Française, stage director and scenographer.