Hans Hickerson – Marseille – PhotoBook Journal

Review by Douglas Stockdale •

Marseille – A True Fictional Photostory

Hans Hickerson’s Marseille backstory is that this is a series of photographs that were captured in August 1983. A time when “You think the grass is greener somewhere else, but then you travel and discover that it is not… you go somewhere else, but you are the same, you are still you.” Thus, it soon becomes visually apparent in reading that this is an autobiographical snapshot about a brief sojourn during his four years teaching in the south of France.

As fitting a side-trip, the photobook opens with a portrait of a singular French car, and we do not know if this was Hickerson’s mode of transportation or if his imagination was captured by the English language sticker decal in the car’s back window: E.T. Phone Home. I suspect the latter. Similarly, later in the book he captures a passing bus with more English signage stating, “You’re as Far From Home as the Nearest Phone.” Which appears as a recurring theme, English text and the need reconnect with “home,” whatever and wherever that is.

We also know that the editing, selection, and layout have been completed well after the fact. Many years have passed and the resulting narrative, similar to memories over time, has changed and shifted. I am reminded of the comment that the late John Szarkowksi, former head of photography at the Museum of Modern Art, stated about the late Walker Evans: whether that work and its judgment was fact or artifice, or half of each, it is now part of (his) history. Similarly to Evans, Hickerson left for France shortly after graduating from his university. After a period of living there he returned to his hometown, and it is worth repeating his introduction: you go somewhere else, but you are the same, you are still you. Nevertheless, I would argue that his stay abroad created subtle differences.

The book has an undercurrent of detachment and loneliness; there appear to be others present with him on this trip, yet his portraits of them are mostly truncated, and on occasion those sitting nearby are not even in focus. Although others are present, Hickerson does not appear fully engaged, which provides a sense of detachment. Likewise, he provides a series of other singular individuals who are by themselves and perhaps lost in thought. Which increases the mysteriousness of this series of black and white images, which are not typical street photographs, holiday “snaps,” or even photo-documentary in style. Seemingly the viewpoint of a stranger in a strange land, taking visual notes of his surroundings.

The book ends with a series of wet landscapes, not the sunny location we usually associate with the coastal city of Marseille as observed earlier the book. It appears to be a dismal end to what might have been hoped to be an upbeat holiday. Perhaps all the more pertinent is the gray overcast and wet surroundings of the storefront, Blue Notes. Perhaps a fitting and very intriguing end to this True Fictional Photostory. Hickerson asks you to try to deduce, which parts are true and which parts are fictional?

Other photobooks by Hans Hickerson that have been reviewed on Photobook Journal include: A Year in Avignon, Photobook / Journal and Transgressions.

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Douglas Stockdale is a visual artist and the Founder / Senior Editor of the PhotoBook Journal.

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Hans Hickerson – Marseille

Artist: Hans Hickerson (works and lives in Portland, OR)

Text: Hans Hickerson

Language: English

Design: Hans Hickerson

Printing: Conveyor Studio, Clifton, NJ

Hardcover; Saddle stitch binding; 7.5” x 7.5”; 32 pages; 24 black and white images; SBN 979-8-9872805-8-4

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