The ‘Sculptor of Shadows’ William Ropp was present during the opening of his exhibition at MEP in Paris last week. There was a long line of people waiting to enter the museum, while  the crème de la crème of the Parisian intellectual Left crowded around Mr Ropp and former Minister of Culture in France, Mr Jacques Lang.  The Maison Européenne de la Photographie, situated in the historic heart of Paris, is a major centre for contemporary photographic art. Since February 1996 it has housed an exhibition centre, a large library, an auditorium, and a video viewing facility with a wide selection of films. It is designed to make the three fundamental photographic media (exhibition prints, the printed page, and film) easily accessible to all.

The exhibition lasts until 25th of March, and  presents a selection of about twenty photographs from his 20-year career. Here, there, and everywhere, from the revealing darkness of the studio to the vast open spaces of Africa and the villages of Mexico, he teases out the threads of an obsession for man devoid of all artifice, for the dark, deformed flesh of desire and for anxious or sunny childhood. Today, after over 20 years working in black and white, William Ropp has produced colour portraits where both the pose and the technique are inspired by classical painting.

The book ‘Faces’ published by Les éditions de l’oeil comprising Ropp´s most recent color work was launched in conjunction with the exhibition at MEP, and we are proud to present a selection of the portraits together with the incredible foreword ‘The Morning of Childhood’ by Mr Arno Minkkinen … enjoy…

The exhibition is produced jointly by the Charleroi Museum of Photography with support from the ellen-k Fine Art Photography, Oslo. (Text derived from MEP)