Les Jeudis d’Alfred Latour n°1 – Photography and advertising

Photography and advertising: the intersecting views of Alfred Latour and Gaston de Jongh

Thursday 12 October at 7pm

Theme of the evening:

“Alfred Latour and Gaston de Jongh were born in the same year, 1888, in Paris and Lausanne respectively. A multi-faceted artist in the case of the former, and a professional photographer with a wide range of activities in the case of the latter, they both entered the world of advertising between the wars by different paths and using different tools. During this period, the pioneers of “modern” advertising embarked on a vast movement to theorise advertising, with the aim of professionalising and institutionalising it, in which photography played a key role. During these years, De Jongh produced a large number of promotional works for companies in the food

(PCKN chocolates, later Nestlé) and watchmaking (Doxa, Movado, LeCoultre) sectors; Latour began a long-term collaboration with the famous Nicolas brand. While de Jongh explores the potential of this new visual communication tool, which, by virtue of its verisimilitude and persuasiveness, as well as its association with text, increases the effectiveness of the advertising message, one of the distinctive features of Latour’s photographic work lies in its documentary dimension, which questions the place of advertising in urban public space.”

Professor François Vallotton, Alexandra Schmidt

Places are limited, registration required: fondation @alfred-latour.org

Venue: Espace Alfred Latour, Lausanne

Photographs: