D'AGATA, Antoine - Anticorps

Background information, personal statement by Magnum photographer Antoine D'AGATA

"Civilization must be monitored and rid of deviant pleasures; the symptoms of totalitarian progress are multiplying in public spaces: censorship and repression of evil pleasures are ubiquitous, a proliferation of media and pornography, chips implanted in the living body, molecular intelligence with a chemical engine, incestuous interferences of the flesh and technology, the advent of a virtual humanity adapting to the disappearance of the senses, freed speech, external to the pleasure it describes; like a peepshow, the limitation of physical contact and the relegation of the individual to the role of passive consumer are reinforced by the development of digital networks; but the accursed part of the human remains uncontrolled." (© Antoine D'AGATA)

Content

"Photo volume 'Anticorps' (english version is called 'Antibodies') comprises an exhibition in Paris, and this volume contains some 2400 photographs by Antoine D'AGATA, infamous for his work dealing with addiction, sex, prostitution, obsession and other taboos. A testament to the enormity and variety of his prolific output, it reflects a language that has gradually become darker, more abstract and abrupt. Curators Fannie Escoulen and Bernard Marcadé grapple with this mass of raw, uncompromising subject matter to discover its implications, finding a man who imbues extreme experiences of existence with revelatory power. It is both haunting and riveting, from spectral encounters to stark urban landscapes." (publisher's note, © Edition Xavier Barral, 2014)

Additional information

In 2013, 'Antibodies' by Antoine D'AGATA has been Awarded with the photobook prize at Les Rencontres D'Arles. The next year followed the English edition of 'Anticorps', named 'Antibodies'. Both editions are sold out at their publishers since a long time.

About French Magnum photographer Antoine D'AGATA (b. 1961)

Photo books by and with contributions by Antoine D'AGATA