world in a playful, lively, and thoughtful way. He
walks—whether in the deserts of the world or in
cities—and his roving eye experiences the sheer
pleasure of being alive. This combination of design
and spontaneous exhilaration makes him an heir of
much French humanistic photography—although
their aesthetics are in fact quite different.
Despite a fairly stable visual style over the course of
his career, Plossu experiments continually with cam-
eras and formats, but always within the range of
amateur camera. He never owned a Leica and uses
an old Nikkormat. At the end of the century he took
up toy cameras and disposable cameras, which allow
him to achieve a poetical grain and grayed-down
tone—even with color film—and a fastness and ease
of use which allows ‘‘the image to take you faster than
you take it.’’ At the other end of the spectrum, Plossu
uses the Fresson process—a slow and painstaking
method of color printing—invented at the turn of
the century by Theodore-Henri Fresson that mimics
pointillism—as a way of expanding the poetical
potential of the images. Printing formats are also
very important for him. Although he delegates the
actual printing of his images, he is careful about the
choice of the size of the image, often trying minia-
ture, and super-miniature prints (7.811.5 cm),
especially of ‘‘large’’ topics such as landscapes, and
panoramas and reinterpreting, through format
change, his own pictures, from their first publication
or exhibition.
JeanKempfSeealso:Frank, Robert; Photography in France
Biography
Born in Dalat (Vietnam), 26 February 1945. Self-taught in
photography. 1965–1966: lives in Mexico; 1966–1977:
travels to the United States, Mexico, India, various Afri-
can countries; 1977–1985: lives in Taos, then Santa Fe ́,
New Mexico; 1978: birth of son Shane; 1986 marries
Franc ̧ oise Nunez birth of Joaquim; 1987–1988: stays in
the Italian Islands and in Portugal; 1988: birth of Man-
uela; 1989 lives in Almeria; 1993: settles in La Ciotat,
France. 1988: Villa Me ́dicis Hors les Murs fellowship,
and French Grand Prix National de la Photographie.
1998–1999: artist in residence Esapce Contretype, Brus-
sels. Living in La Ciotat, France.
Individual Exhibitions
1974 Friends of Photography; Carmel, California
1978 Espace Ephe ́me`re; Brussels, Belgium
1983 New Mexico Revisited; Palm Springs Desert Museum,
Palm Springs, California
1987 Touring exhibition in France, Tours, Lille, Pujols, Vitre ́
The African Desert; National Museum of African
Arts, Washington, D.C.
1988 Centre Georges Pompidou; Paris, France
1990 Museum for Photographic Arts; San Diego, California
1993 Le voyage mexicain; Centre Re ́gional de la Photogra-
phie Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Douchy-les-Mines, France
1994 Le souvenir de la mer; Muse ́e de Digne, France
1994 Bernard Plossu 1963–1993; Traveled to Salzburg,
Innsbruck, Barcelona, Lisbonne, Milan, Marseille
1996 Los anos almerienses con camaras jugueta; Madrid,
Spain
Nuage-Soleil; Espace Photographique Contretype,
Brussels, Belgium
Marches d’hiver; Museum of Fine Arts, Dijon, France
1997 Retrospectiv; IVAM, Valencia, Spain
1998 Franc ̧oise; Maison Europe ́enne de la Photographie,
Paris, France
1999 O Pais Da Poesia; Centro Fotografico de Porto, Por-
tugal
2001 Profession: amateur; Royal Theater of Namur, Belgium
2002 Maao-Me ́moires; Muse ́e des Arts Africains et oce ́a-
niens, Paris, France
Anni 70; Modena, Italy
Col Treno; Galerie franc ̧ aise, Rome, Italy
Le Cine ́ma fixe?; Ecole des beaux-arts, Rouen, France,
and Galerie Miche`le Chomette, Paris, FranceSelected Group Exhibitions
1996 Ojos Franceses en Mexico; IFAL/Centro de la Imagen,
Mexico City, Mexico
1997 Carnets de route; Espace Photographique Contretype,
Bruxelles, Belgium
2003 La Mar de Musicas: India; Franc ̧ oise Nunez, Luis
Baylon, Max Pam et Bernard Plossu. Exposition orga-
nise ́e par Paco Salinas, Cartagena, SpainSelected Works
Surbanalisme, 1972
Go West, 1976
Le Voyage Mexicain, 1979, 1990
Egypte, 1979
New Mexico Revisited, 1983
Roads, 1984
Plossu1963–1985, 1986
Chronique du Retour, 1987
The African Desert, 1987
Bernard Plossu1963–1988,Les paysages interme ́diaires, 1988
Le Jardin de Poussie`re, 1989
Bernard Plossu1963–1993, 1994
Los an ̃os almerienses: con ca ́maras juguete, 1987–1994, 1996
Celui qui encore est au monde, 1997
Lettre pour un tre`s lent de ́tour, 1999
L’Europe du Sud contemporaine, 2000
Maao Me ́moires, 2002
L’e ́trange destin de la Villa Noailles, 2002Further Reading
Denis Roche. ‘‘Mise en liberte ́.’’ InLe Voyage Mexicain.
Paris: Contrejour, 1979.
http://www.documentsdartistes.org/plossu (accessed August
5, 2005).
http://www.contretype.org (accessed August 5, 2005).PLOSSU, BERNARD