Tekst, design og model © Morten Bo

Avec Toi

Speech at the opening of exhitition Avec Toi by Jacob Aue Sobol, Maison du Danemark Paris. November 14.th 2013

by Morten Bo

La vie, La vie est une série de moments, certains sont grands, d'autres petits

Life is a series of moments, some are big, some small.
Moments of concern and moments of fun.
Certains seuls, d'autres avec toi.

Every human being has its moments, and curiosity is great for how the others look.

Jacob Aue Sobol shows us today his moments. There are the big ones and
the small, the ones he clearly remembers, and those he cannot forget.

There is Sabine, his great love in Greenland, who years ago made him waver between being a seal hunter in her settlement or photographer with ambitions.

He chose the latter, but he never forgot her.
Without Sabine's love and body Jacob wouldn't be who he is today.

The photo of Sabine's ribbed tights is small, but it was large, when it traveled around the world and caused a stir, and Jacob was praised and kept going and repeated the success in Tokyo, another book, another exhibition, recognition and Bangkok and Magnum and Home and from Moscow to Beijing, Arrivals & Departures.

For some it is a challenge to discover the unknown, to follow Jacob traveling to the dark corners of the mind, for others it is reassuring to know, that you are not alone, Jacob is like you.
Il est comme toi, et il est avec toi.

He takes you by the hand and shows you the moments you have tried to forget or hide.
Has it grown into a knot in your stomach that you were never loved or never found meaning in life, then you can take comfort in Jacobs moments of loveless togetherness and meaningless existence.

He takes you to secret places where man is naked and honesty extreme, moments of surprise, insight and wonder, does it really exist?
Yes, it does, in Jacob and in you.
Oserez-vous ouvrir la porte fermée?

One of the tiny photos is a closed door, it is only present because it exists,
it is up to you where it leads.
And so it is with all the photos, they are there because the moments exists, and it is up to you, to where they are leading.

Do not be afraid of the unknown, the repressed and rejected, embrace the world, that is what the images tells, with openness and wonder.

Stretch forward your arm, open your hand, and you will find, that you too carries a kitten in the palm of your hand.
A moment of intense beauty and unreserved confidence, such is life too.
For those who dare open the door and reach out.
Pour ceux qui osent ouvrir la porte.

There are the large images that victoriously fill the walls, and there are the tiny ones that tempt you closer, that's the whole idea of the exhibition,
to tempt you closer.
To life and to art.
In a time where the ideal is knowledge, and the artist a researcher, where the academic community has appropriated the art and exported its dogma,
there is only one truth, and it is the one, that can be proved, then it is a relief that the artist Sobol in his work insists, that truth is not an upshot, but an indescribable state of doubt.

Love without contempt is mendacious romance, aggression without apathy an entertaining boxing match, it is in the contradictory visual work, that magic occurs.

Truth is not a goal, it's a way and the lie, to suppress and repress truth. When art becomes a test of knowledge and culture an amusement, then we need Sobol's photography.
And the message is trust. Le message est: confiance.

Jacob does not ride on todays wave, he goes against the flow back to the roots.
Back to the Cave of Altamira to the red and black painted bison, an artistic tribute to hunting, to the prey and beauty with direct imprint of the artists hand. And bulls, horses and wild boars, they are there because they exist.
And lives on in Sobols Photography.
As Pieter Breugel's grim but lovable peasant life, fabulous truthfully.
As Toulouse Lautrecs wonderfully shabby girls in a bordello, where to go with the butt naked was a matter of course, they too live on in Sobol's photography.
As Buñuels Andalusian dog, which rejected the norms and rules of the bourgeoisie, provoking a rebellion against the stuffy morality.

It's no wonder that Jacob's Photography is blacklisted on Facebook, they keep an eye on the bare bottoms, never mind the artistic truth.

But Jacob is not abandoning, every week he creates a new page and generously shares his suggestive moments with his many fans,
c'est une question de confiance.

Last week he held workshop at The Danish School of Art Photography Fatamorgana, and the students were filled with enthusiasm.
In a confidential atmosphere of closeness and concentration, he made them open their closed doors and create magical moments.
C'est une question de confiance.
Confidence in the person, that takes you by the hand and shows you the way, as the photographer Anders Petersen has done to a generation of young photographers, led them to seek intimacy, feeling pride and make themselves visible.

There are traces of Anders Petersen in all Jacob's images in his method and his teaching.
And there are traces of Christer Strömholm, Anders Petersen's former mentor whom with his uncompromising personal photography and his charismatic personality laid the foundation for the success of Nordic documentary photography.
La confiance a été votée.
Confidence has been passed, and Jacob is true to his roots.

With Jacob Aue Sobol, the visual arts have got a photographer whose significance goes far beyond ranks, and it is a pleasure
c'est un plaisir que la Maison du Danemark, en Paris Photo l'ai invité en particulier has invited especially him to share his moments Avec toi.

tale holdt 14.november 2013 det danske hus, paris i anledning af jacob aue sobols udstilling avec toi. morten bo