A Century of French and American Bonds in the Air : Side by Side with the Patrouille de France

Photography Exhibition of Patrouille de France US tour celebrating the centenary of US-French collaboration in World War I. Project name: "Meaning"

Join us for a special commemoration evening organized by the Harvard Club of France, with the collaboration of the French Society of the Legion of Honor.

Friday 17 November from 19h at LeStudio - 40, rue de la Victoire 75009, Paris. Bubbles and cocktail d?natoire.

Register here:  https://en.xing-events.com/ETLRZDH

Spring 2017. Two French men drive across 15 cities in America to follow the Patrouille de France US tour, coming to honor the centenary of the US engagement in WWI. They follow the prestigious French Air Force unit to discover how Americans perceive the message from France.

Yorick de Guichen and photographer Hervé Saint-Hélier collect lights, atmospheres, testimonials, images and memories which reflect the resonance, emotion and deep connection such a celebration has on the Americans’ mind and soul. Hervé’s images excel in revealing the fellowship between the Patrouille and US Air Force Thunderbirds, US Navy Blue Angels, and American citizens.

“Meaning”, their photography documentary, serves a duty of memory and portrays the profound partnership between America and France, highlighting the values of FRATERNITY, EXCELLENCE, and LEADERSHIP that emerge in their message of peace, while the Patrouille de France paints the US sky with the colors of freedom.

***

Hervé Saint-Hélier begins his career as a photojournalist in 1989 when he was first distributed by news agencies SYGMA and SIPA PRESS. Travelling around the world, especially on board of the French helicopter cruiser ? Jeanne d’Arc ?, on the ? Concorde ?, or in Amazonia, Ethiopia, he moves away from the journalistic world into a more artistic approach, with narrative images focusing on people and urban geometries as shown in his series ? Voyages Urbains ? and ? Conte Ethiopien ?. Hervé Saint-Hélier’s work has found home in several private collections and public institutions such as the Société Générale Collection and the Fondation Carmignac, and is regularly exhibited throughout Europe, Asia and the US, where it is represented by the Marlborough Graphics Gallery in New York.

Yorick de Guichen is the author of the book “Les secrets d’un Leader” (published by Robert Laffont) featuring Cédric Tranchon, the Patrouille de France 2011 leader. He also manages a marketing and communication agency MIG28. Yorick de Guichen is the descendent of Admiral Luc Urbain de Guichen, Lieutenant in the Royal French Navy (La Royale) who fought for the Independence War of America and who subsequently received the Order of the Holy Spirit (highest dignity in French monarchy) as well as was elected member of the American Philosophical Society in 1785 under Benjamin Franklin. Yorick is a member of the Society of the Cincinnati founded by George Washington in 1783.

PS: Thanks Denise Silber for the title of this article.

?Exhibition from 16 November 2017 until 27 January 2018 @LeStudio Gallery, 40 rue de la Victoire, 75009 Paris.