Francois Halard: The Arles Polaroids

25 April 2020 - 22 May 2020

VISIT SHOP

From April 25th to May 22nd 2020 we released a unique Polaroid by Francois Halard of his home in Arles. In isolation, this enchanting house took on a new role -sanctuary, muse, and a place of solace & constancy - as catalogued on his Instagram page. We wanted to do something beautiful, and to make physical the pictures he’s been taking. But the Polaroids are also a unique record of one artist’s experience of isolation and a meditation on the artefacts - all of them connected to friends and memories - that surround him.

‘I was very shy and unhappy as a child. So I always find calm and happiness looking at beautiful objects. And ever since I was young that’s what I wanted to give the rest of my life to. I wanted these images to give other people joy and also peace. When you surround yourself with beauty, it helps you go on. Beauty is medicine for the soul.’ - Francois Halard.

‘I have long admired Francois, long before I met him. When I saw the photos he was taking of his house in Arles on Instagram I suggested he take Polaroids – a medium he has long used. I wanted to share them with people, as he did. It’s the most beautiful house I know and that beauty and his eye are distilled in the Polaroids. It’s an old-fashioned medium but it literally captures a moment in time. And time was distorted when we made this project. It was also the only way he could make prints during the lockdown. I relate very much to his relationship with objects, art, & books, and the joy they can bring us, especially when we slow down and look properly. His taste and his work is a big inspiration for me and I loved working on this project with him.’ - Oscar Humphries 

The Polaroids we sold will be included in a forthcoming publication to be released later this year.