French photographer tells ‘Tale of Two Cities’ with new exhibition
When French photographer Maylis Pourquie wandered through Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, to take photos of local life months ago, she never expected that one day she would return to hold an exhibition showcasing the similarities and differences between the city and Paris.
The exhibition Dialogue between Daming Palace and Chateau de Versailles at the ongoing China France Cultural Forum in Xi’an features 42 photos taken by the artist, with half taken in Xi’an and half in Paris. For the display, photos of each city have been paired together so visitors to the exhibition can easily compare and contrast the two urban centers for themselves.
“I didn’t mean to shoot from the same angle and make a direct comparison between the two cities,” the artist and curator of the exhibition told the Global Times on Tuesday, explaining that it was only after she returned to Paris that she noticed her photos of the two cities shared many similarities. She then decided to pair these together for an exhibition.
For instance, in the pair titled Connection, she placed a photo of Xi’an’s Terracotta Warriors next to a photo of statues decorating a Paris church, while in another pair she placed a photo of a stele inscribed with text from a Confucian classic next to a fresco depicting the history of the Napoleon era.
The artist noted that while the latter two photos appear very different, they both depict historical records meant to educate future generations about history.