Maison Europeenne de la Photographie Ville de Paris

Two documentaries by Jack Fritscher and Mark Hemry on photographer George Dureau are held in the permanent collection of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris. Both films premiered at the museum’s grand opening in its Paris theater, where Dureau was honored with an exhibition of his photography — a recognition that places Dureau’s work, and this footage of him at work, alongside the museum’s holdings on photographers like Robert Mapplethorpe, Nan Goldin, and Larry Clark.

DUREAU: IN STUDIO

A Mark Hemry and Jack Fritscher Documentary

This is the first time George Dureau allowed himself to be taped during a photographic session. Filmed on a rainy New Orleans afternoon, the video features Dureau’s model Glen Thompson and captures the artistic symbiosis between photographer and subject, with Dureau himself lighting the studio set. The camera watches an intense, crisp, and nurturing photographer at work, letting viewers see the creation of a photograph as a kind of ritual dance between artist and model. Photographic inserts of related Dureau subjects, along with stills from this exact shoot with Thompson, punctuate the piece. Directed by Jack Fritscher. Produced and edited by Mark Hemry.

DUREAU VERITE: LIFE, CAMERA, and CANVAS!

A Mark Hemry and Jack Fritscher Documentary

Dureau Verite: Life, Camera, and Canvas! Available on YouTube

In this verité-style documentary, George Dureau gives an engagingly warm and revealing interview to American journalist Jack Fritscher, who later featured Dureau in his 1994 book on Robert Mapplethorpe, Mapplethorpe: Assault with a Deadly Camera. Speaking on the verandah of his home on Dauphine Street in New Orleans, Dureau discusses his work across roughly thirty related photographs, drawings, and paintings, and comes through on camera with an exuberant personality that’s easy to spend time with. The film is available in full on YouTube. Directed by Jack Fritscher. Produced, videotaped, and edited by Mark Hemry.