Originally from the French rural area of Saône et Loire, Raymond Depardon was born and raised in the Garet’s familial farm that saw him become a photographer. He published a first eponymous book on the farm in 1994 which gained critical acclaim. In 2020, as a tribute to this important place for him, Depardon offers a journey through 34 iconic images taken in colour with the photographic chamber. This large-format negative with long exposure transforms each image into a singular scene, a silent passage within and around the farm which left its mark on the family’s history. The smallest details, trivial in appearance, become a photographic subject. A chair, table, wallpaper pattern, each element brings us into the photographer’s memory in a permanent tension between past and present.

The book questions the relation to time and the universal concept of memory, highlighted by philosopher Jacques Rancière in his essay specially written for the book.

La Chambre is conceived with great delicateness like an artist book in a slipcase limited to 500 copies, each signed and numbered by the artist. Each photograph is pasted by hand on the upper side only, positioned in a dry embossing at the original format of the negative. The images reproduced at full-scale appear like photographic prints in an album.