“I have always been obsessed with Marlene. I am obsessed with her by her actions, by her gestures, by her appearance, by her images, by her image. And this, for a long time, long before I started my photo collection. (…) Marlene’s modernity of Marlene, I sincerely believe, lies in her way of living and her career. She was a free and tolerant woman, ethical and deeply human.”
Pierre Passebon
Extract from Henry-Jean Servat’s interview with Pierre Passebon for Obsession Marlène,
Dear Shaded Viewers,
Pierre Passebon owns the Galerie du Passage in the the Véro-Dodat gallery in Paris he is also a collector of photographs with an obsession for Marlene Dietrich. In 2017 MEP had an exhibition Obsession Marlene with 500 photographs fromPassebon’s collection.
Passebon has one of the largest photographic collections dedicated to Marlene Dietrich, two thousand pieces. In 2018 Pierre Passebon was attending Paris Photo when he discovered the The Spéculaire series – a set of photo collages made from the collection of Sébastien Lifshistz by Edouard Taufenbach & Bastien Pourtout and got the idea to have them reinterpret his own collection of photographs of Marlene Dietrich. The diverse images include stage stills press, fashion and photos by great names in photography and some by anonymous, family or private photographs. Pierre gave Edouard Taufenbach & Bastien Pourtout the opportunity to draw from this visual reservoir.
Edouard Taufenbach & Bastien Pourtout used their iphone to develop a new form of photomontage based on Instagram and the possibility of communicating images from a distance. They mixed images like a DJ mash-up resulting in works of art. Marlene was preoccupied with controlling her image throughout her life and knew how to hide behind the mask of her image, a mask of eternal beauty.
Pierre Passebon opened his art gallery in 1991 where he offers furniture and objects from the 20th century to present day. Pierre Passebon regularly presents temporary exhibitions dedicated to 20th century and contemporary artists.
The book Obsession Dietrich by Edouard Taufenbach & Bastien Pourtout
from the collection of photographs by Pierre Passebon – Editions L’Artière.
Text by Jean-Luc Monterosso.
24 x 20,5cm / 48 pages / French-English / 50€ (40€ pre-order on the website of
Editions).
Later
Diane
