Press release

Raymond Depardon, La Vie moderne

From April 22 to July 23, 2023, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain and the Power Station of Art (Shanghai) present La Vie moderne, the first solo exhibition in China of French photographer and filmmaker Raymond Depardon.

The profession of photo reporter has led Raymond Depardon to travel all over the world, and yet his desire for discovery has always been accompanied by a strong link with his rural origins. Bringing together some one hundred photographs, as well as a feature film, La Vie moderne depicts the French rural landscape through the regard of its inhabitants, while exploring universal questions linked to contemporary rural life, such as the survival of farms in a world where professions are increasingly industrialized, as well as the impact of urbanization on the countryside.


The exhibition, with a scenography design by Adrien Gardère, takes the form of an open exhibition route that traces Raymond Depardon’s experience of the rural world, consisting of countless voyages and encounters with people and places over the years.


After presenting the largest exhibition ever of Raymond Depardon’s work in Milan in 2022, with La Vie moderne, the Fondation Cartier is pursuing the dialogue initiated with the artist in the 1990s, thereby demonstrating its commitment to showcasing his work to a wide and varied public on an international scale.