Is it because Germaine Krull stopped taking photographs for decades and lived happily ever after that she is so forgotten? Is it because her surrealism was so unpretentious and tongue-in-cheek? Is it because … she was a woman? Is it because she did not think photography should serve art, but life, and because advertising, photojournalism, friends portraits were as important to her as formal experiments? Is it because she was playful and broke conventions as she reframed female nudes?
The question may no longer be relevant, as the exhibit at Jeu de Paume is finally a great occasion to discover all the aspects of her work.
Portrait of Wendy Willy and cat. Mustaches added in the darkroom.
Through Sept. 27.