Jean Marie Donat
POST MORTEM
POST MORTEM
A photograph of an overview, proof of the crime.
Like a mugshot in all but name under another name. A prayer, a Thanksgiving, distorted into a
consumerist expression of gratitude.
An outsider’s, a novice’s perspective, that of the photographer, documenting
a cryptic rite, impenetrable to the uninitiated. The photographer immortalizes
the dead beast. A posthumous photograph of consumer society, which trans[1]forms the family meal into a place of devotion.
«Lord, be kind enough to grant us our meal today…
Roast turkey, gigot with flageolets,
A stove with a glass oven, piles of cutlery and cake servers!
A vinaigrette mixer,
A fine air purifier to eat up odors,
Heated sheets,
A waffle gun,
A plane for two,
Irony is, above all first of all, a way of questioning…
Text by Jean Marie Donat
2026 March
BIO
Born in 1962 in Paris, France, Jean-Marie Donat is an artist, an "iconophage" of photography, and a publisher. His collection, amassed over more than 30 years, comprises nearly 40,000 photographs, Ektachromes, and negatives from around the world, spanning more than a century of photographichistory (1880-1990). It consists primarily of vernacular images, photographs taken by amateurs and anonymous individuals, chosen for the cultural and social significance they convey, as well as for the profound humanity they evoke. From this process of long-term accumulation and introspection, Jean-Marie Donat has been building this photographic corpus since the 1980s, aiming to offer a unique perspective on the 20th century. The photographic series from his collection have beenfeatured in several books and international exhibitions, notably at the Rencontres d’Arles (2015, 2023), the Hamburg Triennial (2018), the Lianzhou Museum of Photography (China, 2019), Image Vevey (Switzerland, 2020), the Centquatre-Paris (2022), and C.O. Berlin. Alongside his artisticpractice, Jean-Marie Donat has worked in publishing for 40 years. He currently heads the editorialcreative agency AllRight. In 2015, he also founded Éditions Innocences, a publishing house dedicated to images in all their forms. In 2023, Jean-Marie Donat co-founded the Vernacular Social Club, an international association bringing together amateurs, collectors, and professionals aroundvernacular photography.