PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, May 27th 2014
RATP invites...Gueorgui Pinkhassov,
Magnum Photos photographer,
exhibiting in 17 stations from June 16 to
September 30 2014
th
th
From June 16th to September 30th 2014, RATP (the Paris public transport Operator) will be
inviting Gueorgui Pinkhassov, Magnum Photos photographer to exhibit an exclusive
selection of images in 17 stations along its network as a unique testimonial of his journey on
urban mobility in five cities where the RATP Group is present (Casablanca, Florence, London,
Paris and Seoul).
This is the third photography event of the “RATP invites…” series, a cultural program launched
by RATP in October 2013. It is also the first time a photographer has been commissioned to
create an artistic itinerary for passengers.
The first exhibition will take place at the Magnum Gallery in Paris from 17 to 21 June.
London, United Kingdom, 2014
© Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photos
“We chose photography because it gives a whole new dimension to our cultural policy as an accessible and
immediate art form that is particularly well adapted to our areas and the diversity of our passengers,” stated
Isabelle Ockrent, RATP communication and brand director, “We chose Gueorgui Pinkhassov for this first
photographic commission for the strength of his images and the sensitivity of his insight. The unique art of
Gueorgui Pinkhassov plunges us in the atmosphere of the five cities where the RATP Group operates,
further opens up the space of our networks and broadens our passengers’ horizons.”
1/4
Urban mobility: a theme at the heart of the RATP Group mission
RATP has invited photographer Gueorgui Pinkhassov to share his personal and artistic view of urban
mobility from an international angle. Pinkhassov offers up his intimate insight into Casablanca, Florence,
London, Paris and Seoul, cities where the RATP Group is present in both operations and maintenance
activities. Urban mobility is a theme at the heart of the company’s mission and expansion. These five
cities where RATP Group demonstrates its mobility capacity and expertise, exemplify the group’s ambition:
to bring together the twelve million passengers it carries worldwide every day.
A photographic opus at the crossroads of chance and light
Gueorgui Pinkhassov’s poetic vision, with its subtle shadows, impeccable composition and singular details,
transports the viewer. The artist’s work is a direct extension of his photographic writing. In one month he
captured movement in five cities from Europe to Asia via Africa to transcribe the specific poetry of each
location. He has drawn up an urban inventory comprising reflections and mirror images, silhouettes and
dabs of colour to create a jigsaw of urban mobility that plunges us into a world with different levels of
appreciation.
RATP is proud to offer this photographic cosmos as an alternate window onto the world and particularly the
daily life of d i f f e r e n t i n d i v i d u a l s reinterpreted by Gueorgui Pinkhassov.
“Transport is my element,” says Gueorgui Pinkhassov, “For as long as I can remember – perhaps even
before – I can hear the sound of wheels turning… For me, that’s what symbolises freedom and change, and I
cannot even imagine my profession without it. At each station, at each stop, in every second, extraordinary
things take place in an ordinary way. Transport advances and stations slip past in turn as lives interlink. It’s all
too curious not to try to capture it. I am delighted by the constantly changing stroboscope of the scenery and if
it doesn’t send me to sleep, I photograph it”.
Forty photographs to be enjoyed along RATP networks…
RATP will be exhibiting 40 exclusive photographs by Gueorgui Pinkhassov from 16 June to 30 September 2014
in 17 RATP stations. With each image reproduced in multiple locations, there will be over 300 exhibited in
RATP venues.
The photographs will be presented in several ways:
> From 17 to 30 June at the Charles de Gaulle Étoile station, Carnot Hall (RER A) and in the Châtelet (line 3),
Denfert (line 4), Gare d'Austerlitz (line 5), Madeleine (line 12), Montparnasse (line 4), Odéon (line 4), SaintLazare (line 3), Trocadéro (line 9) and Villiers (line 3) stations, images will be exhibited in two formats, in 4x3
metres along platforms and in 2x1.5 metres along station corridors in advertisement displays
> From 16 June to 30 September in the Bir Hakeim (line 6), Hôtel de Ville (line 1), La Chapelle (line 2), Jaurès
(under the line 2 viaduct), Saint-Denis Porte de Paris (line 13), Saint-Michel (line 4) and Luxembourg (RER B)
stations in large-scale formats making the most of specific staging in each station.
… and at the Magnum Gallery from 17 to 21 June
SAVE THE DATE
Press preview
Monday, 16 June, 4-6 p.m.,
Magnum Gallery,
13 rue de l’Abbaye - Paris 75006
Paris, France, 2014
© Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photos
The public is invited to enjoy all 40 photographs by Gueorgui Pinkhassov displayed along RATP networks at the
Magnum Gallery, 13 rue de l’Abbaye – 75006 Paris.
The exhibition will be available for viewing every day from 17 till 21 June, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Free admission.
www.magnumgallery.fr
><
2/4
Gueorgui Pinkhassov - bio
Gueorgui Pinkhassov was born in Moscow in 1952. As a Russian who acquired French citizenship, Pinkhassov
has lived in Paris for many years.
Pinkhassov became interested in photography at the end of secondary school. He studied at the VGIK Moscow
Institute of Cinematography from 1969 to 1971 and then worked in the Mosfilm studios in the cameraman
team before becoming a set photographer. In 1978 Pinkhassov joined the Moscow Union of Graphic Arts as an
independent artist. The same year, film director Andrei Tarkovsky invited him to photograph the set of his film
Stalker. In 1979 Pinkhassov participated in the collective exhibition of the Union of Graphic Arts where his
photographs attracted attention.
In 1985 Pinkhassov moved to Paris. He joined Magnum Photos in 1988 and began working with the
international press. However, his primary interest does not lie in covering major events. Gueorgui Pinkhassov
likes to explore singular details through reflections and particularly light reflections, which often
approach abstraction, as, can be seen in his first book, “Sightwalk”.
“La RATP invite…”, the flagship photography program by RATP
“La RATP invite…” is an initiative launched by RATP in October 2013, which has become a regular event that
illustrate the new impetus given by the group to its culture policy through photography. RATP has committed
to regularly inviting photographers to showcase their work by occupying huge amounts of its public spaces.
RATP can thus bring to the public’s attention a diverse range of exacting photography.
The first two “La RATP invite…” events exhibited photographs presented at the PHOTOQUAI biennale
(October – November 2013) and those presented at the CIRCULATION(S) festival (February – June 2014).
For the summer of 2014, RATP decided to give carte blanche to photographer Gueorgui Pinkhassov to mark its
cultural policy with an innovative and ambitious event.
RATP organises cultural and sporting events along its networks throughout the year and thus offers its
passengers moments to relax, to be surprised, to discover and to discuss as a concrete application of its
ambition of its catch line: “Aimer la Ville” [Love The City].
RATP Group internationally
In addition to the historic network operated by the group in the Paris region, RATP exports its operations
and maintenance knowledge worldwide through its RATP Dev subsidiary. RATP Dev is now present in
twelve countries in four continents, operating and maintaining urban and inter-urban transport networks
(bus, metro, rail and tramway systems).
> Casablanca
The consortium led by RATP DEV alongside Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion du Maroc and the Transinvest
holding company operates and maintains the 31-km Casablanca tramway line, the longest tramway line to
enter service in a single operation.
> Florence
RATP DEV operates the first line of the tramway network in Florence, Tuscany, which was inaugurated in 2010.
> London
Thanks to its London United, London Sovereign and Epsom Coaches subsidiaries, RATP DEV operates 81 bus
lines, some of which are the most prestigious in the capital, and over a thousand buses.
> Seoul
The RATP Dev and Transdev joint venture in Asia operates and maintains line 9, the flagship metro line in
Seoul, which is hailed for its quality of service and punctuality.
Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos was founded in 1947 by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David
Seymour. Four photographers convinced of the need to be completely independent in order to assert their
commitment and record world’s events. Choice of subject, selection of photographs, ownership of negatives
and control over release…all the attributes of creator status are required.
Others joined the agency over the decades that chronicle the significant events of our time, ranging
from daily life to personalities and produced many iconic images as parts of our collective memory. Magnum
photographers assert their dual identity as chroniclers and artists to transcend the division between art and the
media.
3/4
Magnum Photos contacts
Clément Saccomani – editorial director + 33 1 53 42 50 38 / clement.saccomani@magnumphotos.com
Carole Bourriot – project director + 33 1 53 42 50 18 / carole.bourriot@magnumphotos.com
Karen Jonsson – development manager + 33 1 53 42 50 26 / karen.jonsson@magnumphotos.com
19 rue Hégesippe Moreau 75 018 Paris
www.magnumphotos.com
RATP PRESS SERVICE
T.01 58 78 37 37
www.ratp.fr
servicedepresse@ratp.fr
www.twitter.com/GroupeRATP
www.facebook.com/RATPofficiel
4/4