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Feeling a bit anxious or glum about life? Don't miss the photographs of Gilbert Garcin now on show at the AD-Galerie in Genolier (Vaud) through October 9. Garcin's whimsically surrealistic view of existence deals with the critical questions--the transience of life, the flight of time-- with a gentle humor that cannot fail to produce a smile.  

"He reminds me of Jacques Tati," observed a gallery goer at the show's opening. The reference to the French film maker who created the classic "Mr. Hulot's Holiday," is fitting. Garcin's style is similar, and Garcin reportedly used one of Tati's hats in an early photograph.

Garcin's images, which portray Garcin as a classically correct bourgeois gentleman trapped in surrealistic situations, are even more reminiscent of the great Belgian painter René Maigritte. There is a special irony, considering the debate over retirement in France. Garcin, who lives in Marseilles, spent most of his life as a reasonably successful, but relatively unremarkable, businessman dealing in lighting and lamps. His place in history began after he ended his business career.

At the age of 65, he decided to retire, and by chance he enrolled in a class on photo montage at Arles. The class launched his true career, or at least the one he is most likely to be  remembered for. In the 18 years since retiring, Garcin, who is 81, has produced more than 300 photographs with a whimsical take on the nature of existence. In each one, Garcin photographs himself, and occasionally his wife Monique, and then rephotographs the carefully cutout images in a manufactured sets that capture the essence of his notions of the ironies of existence.

The photographs are for the most part taken in a small shed that once belonged to Garcin's grandfather in La Ciotat. He may take ten or fifteen photographs to capture an idea, and then through a draconian elimination, select the final one that best captures the idea. The process sounds simple enough, but the quality of the black and white photographic prints is stunning, and the insight in each is pure genius.

Much of the power comes from Garcin's posture in each image. Before the camera he is a magnificent mime. Monique is both an actress in some of the images, and a patient muse who often does the decoupage and helps arrange the sets.

I asked Garcin at the show's opening what kind of camera he used. "I don't really know," he said off handedly. "Someone gave it to me in the 1980s." If Garcin is a bit laconic about technique, his photographs speak for themselves. They have been in major exhibitions across France and Canada, and the show at the AD-Galerie is a rare opportunity to see them here.

The AD-Galerie is open from 11 am to 6 pm, Thursday through Saturday, 1 rue de la Gare in Genolier. For a map, check out the website at http://www.AD-Galerie.com

Gilbert Garcin's website http://www.gilbert-garcin.com/

A slideshow of Gilbert Garcin's photos is also online