Denis Darzacq

Jack Riley, Bradford, West Yorkshire, U.K.

2011

For over two decades, Denis Darzacq has encouraged young adults and teenagers to express their freedom and celebration of life, in vibrant contrast to their physical and economic constraints. Whether it is a young man gracefully floating in front of a building within a poor Paris neighborhood, with few options to grow and achieve financial independence, or the physically handicapped sharing jubilant pleasure within a lush natural setting, Darzacq invites them to express their own feelings of freedom. In his most recent series, Prisms, vibrant colored shapes have been combined in a way that jubilantly evokes the same vital energy, the perpetual movement of life, that has infused his career-long work. Denis Darzacq was born and raised in Paris, where he still lives and works today. He graduated from the ENSAD, the French National School for Decorative Arts, in 1986, and started his photography career following the French rock music scene. In subsequent work, Darzacq focused on portraying young adults using their bodies to express an exuberant sense of freedom from the limitations life has placed upon them. In his two series "La Chute" and "Hyper," adolescent street dancers from the exurbs of Paris performed their leaps, jumps, twirls and other gravity-defying maneuvers against urban street scenes or inside Hyper markets filled with dazzling displays of colorful merchandise. The dancers appear suspended in mid-air, floating and frozen in impossible positions. In his next body of work, ACT, he worked with young adults leading difficult lives, their bodies challenged by conditions like Down’s Syndrome or cerebral palsy. His subjects came from a variety of backgrounds, careers, and locations, from the west of France to the north of England, as well as in the United States. His goal was for each person to express his or her individuality through a collaborative effort with the photographer. Working with institutions, dance, drama, and sports groups, Denis found eager participants. Darzacq’s photographs are in many international collections, including the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; the Caldic Collection, Netherlands; the Sir Elton John Collection; and Bidwell Projects, Ohio. He continues to exhibit around the world, from the Canary Islands to Cuba, from Phnom Penh to Hong Kong, and in Austria, Germany, and, of course, France.