BECKETT - François-Marie Banier
"Beckett It's already thirty years ago. The beaches and streets of Tangier were haunted by an automaton more bone than flesh, whom, alas, I often lost between the rays of the sun. His stilt-walking silhouette faded into the crowd of Moroccans in djellabahs and nonchalant tourists. Like me, they had no idea that this slender man was the great writer Samuel Beckett. His gait seemed to obey a pendulum movement set only for him, heel striking the ground long before the leg engaged, body stiff, thrown back. His ocean-blue gaze, hidden by wide-rimmed glasses, was too far above the horizon to guide him. I was so moved by not being able to capture the dimension of this strange silhouette that I often forgot to put a film in my camera. By dint of passing each other, we met. I left photography aside. In his deep voice, he told me about the books his wife Suzanne had been refused by 27 publishers, about his friendship with Joyce, about his family life in Ireland. He imagined his mother's astonishment if she'd heard he'd won the Nobel Prize. He advised me to read, "to see how others do it". I had to fix that rare look and face, take a step back, abandon the treasures that were his words, his points of view, and join the photographer's place, behind the lens."
- François-Marie Banier
Published by Steidl, 2009
15 cm x 18.5 cm, 88 pages, new
ISBN 978-3865219831
"Beckett It's already thirty years ago. The beaches and streets of Tangier were haunted by an automaton more bone than flesh, whom, alas, I often lost between the rays of the sun. His stilt-walking silhouette faded into the crowd of Moroccans in djellabahs and nonchalant tourists. Like me, they had no idea that this slender man was the great writer Samuel Beckett. His gait seemed to obey a pendulum movement set only for him, heel striking the ground long before the leg engaged, body stiff, thrown back. His ocean-blue gaze, hidden by wide-rimmed glasses, was too far above the horizon to guide him. I was so moved by not being able to capture the dimension of this strange silhouette that I often forgot to put a film in my camera. By dint of passing each other, we met. I left photography aside. In his deep voice, he told me about the books his wife Suzanne had been refused by 27 publishers, about his friendship with Joyce, about his family life in Ireland. He imagined his mother's astonishment if she'd heard he'd won the Nobel Prize. He advised me to read, "to see how others do it". I had to fix that rare look and face, take a step back, abandon the treasures that were his words, his points of view, and join the photographer's place, behind the lens."
- François-Marie Banier
Published by Steidl, 2009
15 cm x 18.5 cm, 88 pages, new
ISBN 978-3865219831
"Beckett It's already thirty years ago. The beaches and streets of Tangier were haunted by an automaton more bone than flesh, whom, alas, I often lost between the rays of the sun. His stilt-walking silhouette faded into the crowd of Moroccans in djellabahs and nonchalant tourists. Like me, they had no idea that this slender man was the great writer Samuel Beckett. His gait seemed to obey a pendulum movement set only for him, heel striking the ground long before the leg engaged, body stiff, thrown back. His ocean-blue gaze, hidden by wide-rimmed glasses, was too far above the horizon to guide him. I was so moved by not being able to capture the dimension of this strange silhouette that I often forgot to put a film in my camera. By dint of passing each other, we met. I left photography aside. In his deep voice, he told me about the books his wife Suzanne had been refused by 27 publishers, about his friendship with Joyce, about his family life in Ireland. He imagined his mother's astonishment if she'd heard he'd won the Nobel Prize. He advised me to read, "to see how others do it". I had to fix that rare look and face, take a step back, abandon the treasures that were his words, his points of view, and join the photographer's place, behind the lens."
- François-Marie Banier
Published by Steidl, 2009
15 cm x 18.5 cm, 88 pages, new
ISBN 978-3865219831
