William Klein

To commemorate the first anniversary of William Klein's death, Polka introduces “Paris + Klein”, a unique installation resulting from a collaboration between the Klein studio and Polka Gallery under the supervision of William Klein. Comprising 33 prints, this masterful work was exhibited by Polka in 2016 in the “Prismes” sector of Paris Photo to pay tribute to Paris, the photographer's adoptive city, one year after the Bataclan attacks.

From New York to Tokyo and Rome to Moscow, Klein has captured cities, streets, sidewalks, cafés and terraces, passers-by, lovers, demonstrators, always in the truth of the moment, the unexpected and the accidental.

His credo: “No rules, no limits”. Anything goes. He takes what he's denied, breaks prohibitions, disturbs angles and neglects settings. His frenzy to photograph everything that passes, moves and lives in the city provokes a creative trance in him. It's his dance. The photographer's dance, set to the rhythm of an orchestra that is anything but classical, tells the story of the vibrancy of Paris in images, from the dawn of the 1960s to the 2000s.