CV122 - John Max, A Line Leading through Photography — Michel Hardy-Vallée
Ciel variable 122 - Night Rounds (Winter 2023)
Focus (Individual article, digital version)
John Max
A Line Leading through Photography | Un fil conducteur de la photographie
— Michel Hardy-Vallée
In a highly personal essay, Michel Hardy-Vallée describes what he found as a researcher of John Max’s work. Hardy-Vallée gives a detailed account of the life of Max, who died in 2011, interspersed with commentary on the context in which two of his major works, the sequences Crucifixion express: Destination nowhere (1960) and Open Passport (1973), were created and disseminated. Known and admired, including by filmmakers Kubrick and Lucas, for the anguish and avant-garde style that permeated his images, Max experienced both the heights and the depths. Hardy-Vallée, who is writing a monograph about Max, unearths the most meaningful moments. “A photography exhibition was organized that stood out from the usual fare relegated to church basements, cafés, and department stores,” he writes. “Photographie 57 brought together painters, illustrators, and filmmakers: artists with a camera. This was the birth certificate of ‘John Max.’”
Details
Language : English & French
Digital Version : PDF, 5.1 Mb
Bibliographical Notice
Michel Hardy-Vallée, “John Max, A Line Leading through Photography” in Ciel variable, No. 122, “Night Rounds”, Montreal, 2023, p. 46-53.