Harlem, New York, 1943, a photograph by Gordon Parks, installed by JR in Telluride, US, 2021. Photograph: Original artwork © Estate of Gordon Parks
Since the mid-2000s, enigmatic French artist JR has been bringing large-scale photographic projects to cityscapes around the world. His public installations range from trompe l’œil optical illusions to series raising awareness about the plight of refugees, foregrounding the experience of marginalised or oppressed communities. His work has been collated in a far-reaching monograph, originally published in 2015, with a revised edition including 140 new images and a foreword by film-maker George Lucas. “I take photos of people, of places,” says JR in the book. “And I paste them on trains, on floors, on walls, on buildings, houses. Sometimes I even have people carry them. What really matters is to make the stories travel; I see my work as a message in a bottle thrown in the ocean. I never really know where it will go.”
