This book contains 90 photographs that aim to present the backbone of photographer Patrick Faigenbaum’s black and white works, since his beginnings in 1973 until today. Most of the photographs are previously unpublished works, following a rhythm here that makes them, as a whole, resemble a musical score in which silences and sounds, intimacy and exteriority, progress together.

Faigenbaum began photographing important families of Italian aristocracy in the 1980’s. Solemn portraits echoing official portraits of the 19^th century with their rigorous framing. Throughout the book, Faigenbaum focuses his lens on more intimate subjects such as his wife or his mother against uncluterred backgrounds. He also makes outdoor portraits from  rural scenes at Lys-Chantilly to street scenes, more recently, in Barcelona, Praha and Bremen. Several protraits and still lives punctuate this portrait gallery in the book.

To help guide us on this exploration of the photographer’s B&W’s body of work, a text by Jean-François Chevrier, who has accompanied the work of Patrick Faigenbaum for nearly thirty years, examines the artist’s approach throughout his career. This text is translated in English.