Manuel
Litran
The Red Zone – 50 years after the
battle of Verdun
Manuel Litran studied
painting at the Fine Arts Academy in Algeria, where he was also born.
His father introduced him to photography. He has lived in Paris since
1952. After doing an internship in Paris Match he started working
as a reporter in 1954. He quit four years later, worked for «
Jour de France » for some time and then returned to Paris Match
in 1960 where he spent the next 40 years.
During those years Manuel Litran consistenly used large format photos
to take pictures of celebrities in everyday situations. He is the
author of several photo reports for Paris Match, one of which, a very
special one, was devoted to the battle of Verdun.
In 1966, 50 years after the battle which took lives of thousands of
people, Manuel Litran and François Luizet started their journey
following traces of historical events. Barbed wire separated the zone
from tresspassers as death risk was still high. The photographers
decided to ignore that prohibition and passed the forbidden border.
An area scarcely covered with plants spread before their eyes, a territory
where traces of war were still visible: bullet holes, trenches filled
with rainwater, canteens, rifles, French and German helmets not yet
buried in the ground.
Manuel Litran takes colour photos of such traces of war without ascribing
identity to those places where havock and death left their mark.
The only thing he kept from his journey was a line set on a map at
1 :25 000 scale which shows the road around the fortified buildings
of Douaumont, crossing the towns of Louvement-Côte-du-Poivre,
Beaumont-en-Verdunois, Ornes and Bezonveaux, demolished in 1916.
Trees planted towards the end of 1920 grew roots in the vast territory
of the Red Zone, where music and picnics are still forbidden and where
one can still find signs commemorating the death of citizens who gave
their lives for France.
Exhibition place :
CSW Laznia (ul. Jaskólcza 1, Gdansk)
August 18 – September 23 (Tue – Sun 12-6 pm)
opening: August 17 at 6 pm
