BÉRAUD. - Lot 22

BÉRAUD. Sensitive Surfaces. Photographs by Béraud. With poems by Apollinaire, Baudelaire, Bérimont, the Bible, Breton, Cadou, Danche, Éluard, Gallez, Guillevic, Jouve, Lorca, Marot, Raideroth, Rimbaud, Ronsard, Verlaine, and Voltaire. Foreword by Françoise Sagan. Paris, Paul Montel, [circa 1978]. Large quarto, publisher’s binding with illustrated dust jacket. A beautiful volume by photographer Béraud, bringing together a substantial selection of black-and-white photographs accompanied by poetic texts drawn from the greatest authors, ranging from Ronsard to Breton, including Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Éluard, Jouve, and Verlaine. The volume is prefaced by a foreword by Françoise Sagan, who highlights the evocative power of photography rooted in suggestion, light, and silence. The images, elegant and minimalist, focus on silhouettes, veiled nudes, the play of shadows and backlighting, as well as intimate portraits. The juxtaposition of classical and modern poetry with photography lends the book a genuine aesthetic unity, characteristic of the fine-art photography books published by Paul Montel in the 1970s. Condition: a good copy despite a dust jacket showing normal scuffing and slight signs of wear; interior is fresh.