Martine Fougeron / Nicolas et Adrien: A World with Two Sons

Description

Nicolas et Adrien. A World with Two Sons is a series of intimate portraits of Martine Fougeron's two sons and their friends growing up in New York and France. Both tender and distanced, the book is a visual bildungsroman that delves into the intense present of her sons' adolescent states of mind before they become independent adults. Nicolas et Adrien consists of two interconnected bodies of work, "Teen Tribe" (2005-10) and "The Twenties" (2010-18). Composed mostly of photos taken at Fougeron's New York home and during summers in the South of France, "Teen Tribe" explores adolescence as a liminal state between childhood and adulthood, and follows the adolescent's interior quest and development of character. "The Twenties" captures the period between adolescence and full adulthood, depicting her sons' college years, trials with vocations and work, new friends and lovers, holidays and family celebrations. Nicolas et Adrien. A World with Two Sons is a sensual biography of two adolescents and a depiction of the universal processes of growing up as an emerging adult, to which all can relate. My sons' lives are ever changing, and my work evolves with them. It depicts a rite of passage story that also reflects the age and culture of its unique circumstances. Martine Fougeron

Born in Paris in 1954, Martine Fougeron studied at l'Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, Wellesley College and the International Center of Photography in New York. Her exhibitions include those at the Gallery at Hermes in New York (2013) and the Bronx Museum of the Arts (2016), while her work forms part of major collections including the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Fougeron contributes frequently to The New Yorker, the New York Times Sunday Magazine and FT Weekend Magazine, among other publications.

Both tender and distanced, the book is a visual bildungsroman that delves into the intense present of her sons' adolescent states of mind before they become independent adults.-- "Eye of Photography" a fine balance between intuition and objectivity, intimate formality and relaxed spontaneity, capturing...her sons evolving lives--Elisabeth Biondi "Photograph" After convincing her reluctant boys to collaborate, Martine Fougeron's new photobook snoops in on their tricky adolescent journey from innocence to experience.--Michael-Oliver Harding "Guardian" French-American photographer Martine Fougeron began taking pictures of her two sons (then aged 14 and 15) in New York. Seeking to capture the spontaneity of their adolescence, she shot them as they ate, smoked and dreamt their way towards adulthood.--Chris Allnutt "Financial Times"