Bruce Jackson Being There, Paris 2010

Throughout the run of Being There: Bruce Jackson Photographs 1962-2010, the artist is sharing some of the stories behind his photographs.Being There is on view until June 16, 2013. The catalog accompanying the exhibition is available at The Museum Store at the Burchfield Penney.

Diane and I were in Paris in June 2010. One day we had lunch at a place on Rue de Seine with our friend Philippe Lemonnier, a wonderful photographer and writer, and his wife, Claire. After lunch, Claire had to go back to work, but Philippe and Diane continued a heated discussion (I don't remember about what) as we walked toward Pont des Arts. At one point, Philippe stopped to make a point and I was going to take his photo, then noticed that his back and Diane's face were reflected in the glass behind him. Then I saw Klaus Kinski looking up at the two of them and I knew that was the picture. I like a lot of things about this image—it really gets Philippe and Diane for one, and there's a nice energy to it and I love the blue—but there is also something optically marvelous about it as well. Physically, the picture of Kinski is behind Philippe and Diane, but optically, because of the way reflection works, he is between them. So there are several planes in which things are seen here. It was a real moment, but what you're seeing, at least until you think about it, is quite impossible.

-Bruce Jackson
Learn more about Bruce at http://www.burchfieldpenney.org/artists/artist:bruce-jackson/