William Klein
"New York 1954-1955"

Cult book published in 1956, William Klein’s NEW YORK is one of the most important works of the history of photography.

The exhibit of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie displays close to 200 photographs presented by the photographer himself

A large room is dedicated to the original prints and to the first edition of the book. Extremely large prints, vintages, contacts sheets, graphic research for editing, typographic innovations give for the first time a clear idea of how this 26 year old painter captured photography of the real and changed nearly all its features.

Off-centring, exaggerated contrasts, grain, hazard, refusal of the "objectivity" of the time, violence, black humour, satire, political positioning... We speak today of "artists which use photography"; William Klein’s New York, which appeared 40 years ago, is one of its most striking examples.