La Galerie Intervalle is holding a new exhibition about the nightlife and partygoers with the series They Came, They Party’d, They Left by Olivier Degorce. A participant in and witness to the emergence of electronic music, Degorce compulsively photographed festivals of the 1990s. He was one of the first to systematically document these electrified parties by DJs who were still very discreet: they rarely took the spotlight and sometimes were hidden among the partygoers in secret and unauthorized venues. The photographs, taken “on the fly” with a handheld film camera, capture the spontaneous spirit of these early raves. With ill-framed snapshots and sensual close-ups of body parts, Degorce conveys the volcanic energy and utopian spirit that still reigned back then, before the advent of digital, the Internet and celebrity DJs. The exhibition runs in Paris through July 4th..
“I landed in Paris’ first Acid House nights around 1987-1988. I was 20. It was a shock. My generation had never heard anything remotely familiar to this kind of music until then. As the rave phenomena grew, I always took a compact camera to parties. Taking pictures was a way to keep a record of these unique moments. I was there at the right time; the only one systematically taking pictures. Collecting portraits of people playing records pressed only once – 100 to 500 copies only – fascinated me. These vinyls without covers or visuals were enchanting. There was something truly paradoxical to taking these pictures because we were all there incognito; the public and the DJs couldn’t have cared less about being seen or watched. Those prohibited parties were completely underground. These images were taken in places that, for the most part, were not intended for partying (abandoned warehouses, industrial wastelands, barges, the area under Parisian bridges…) The “come as you are” aspect contrasted with the ceremonious attire required by nightclubs at the time. I rarely came back from a party with more than 15 photos: 2 or 3 of the DJ, sometimes only one. Neither digital retouching nor cropping has been done. These images are shown as they were taken. »
Olivier Degorce
EXPHIBITION
They Came, They Party’d, They Left
Olivier Degorce
From April 17th to July 4th, 2015
Galerie Intervalle
12, rue Jouye-Rouve
75020 Paris
France
http://www.galerie-intervalle.com
http://www.olivierdegorce.fr
