Imprudences
My first experience of the photographic work of François-Marie Banier came when I was preparing my exhibition “My (Private) Heroes” at the MARTA Herford museum in 2004. I did not know him, but his name stayed in my mind. I found his work appealing and moving, and also, so close to real life – or at least, life as I had so often experienced it during my stays in Paris and other big cities.
Unique beings at a unique moment when each individual becomes their own personality. My admiration grew when I visited the artist in his studio and at home, where I went from one discovery to another.
The art of photography is a passionate process that not only informs us about the workings of society, with all its different facets, its modes of behaviour, its habits and its developments, but above all about the way an individual – the artist and photographer – perceives the great diversity of this society that is increasingly evolving into a multicultural entity. [...]
Excerpt from the Jan Hoet text
