Daguerréotypes

VISUAL is pleased to present Daguerréotypes by Agnès Varda.

Varda (1928 - 2019) was an acclaimed artist, photographer and filmmaker who came to prominence during the French New Wave in the 1950s. The only female director working as part of this group, her films encompass documentary, feature film and collaborations with other artists. A hallmark of her work is an attention to the inner lives of her subjects, often overlooked or marginalised figures, and an exploration of the unnoticed detritus and occurrence of the everyday.

Varda moved to Rue Daguerre in Paris in 1951, and spent the remainder of her life living and working there. In 1975, Varda was reluctant to travel far from home while caring for her young son, and so turned to her street - her neighbours, local shopkeepers and tradespeople – to record a portrait of people and place through a record of their days, relationships, and inner lives. 

Daguerréotypes depicts a place shaped by movements large and small. Varda had arrived in Paris and shortly afterward in Rue Daguerre a newcomer. Similarly, the subjects of her film come from across France and further afield, a consequence of economic, social and political migration. It also charts the rushes of activity and moments of stillness that make up the working day, capturing interactions and moments of serendipity that contribute to the life of a place.  What is striking about Daguerréotypes now is the view of a community bounded by a street and a neighbourhood, in the middle of a large, cosmopolitan city. This is not the Paris of artistic movements, museums and tourist attractions, but one of daily lives and livelihoods lived in correspondence with each other.

The interviews with characters on Varda’s street are juxtaposed with scenes of the community packing into the local corner bar for a show by the travelling magician Mystag. This journeyman entertainer, described as having travelled from a foreign land – another neighbourhood of Paris – presents feats of magic, hypnosis and trickery that draw the participants into another social ritual, on display to each other in much the same way as they have been to Varda’s camera. Over the course of the film, the workday and Mystag’s show blend together, the quotidian and the magic mixed up together.

Daguerréotypes is shown with the kind cooperation of Cine Tamaris. The film runs for 78 minutes in a loop.