The Proustian Quest

CHAPTER 3 Girls in Motion

CHAPTER 3 Girls in Motion Chaque itre est ditruit quand nous cessons de le voir; puis son apparition suivante est une criation nouvelle. . . . (I , 917) Proust wa s as fascinated b y the influence o f speed on th e way we perceive figures in motion a s was the photographer Jacques-Henri Lartigue (1894-1986) . Bot h move d easil y among th e well-to-d o upper bourgeoisie and aristocracy, being roughly contemporary as far a s thei r earl y creativ e year s ar e concerned . Lartigue' s fathe r gave him his first camera at the age of eight, an d the youth bega n assembling his extraordinar y photographi c recor d o f the new ag e in transportatio n an d sport s i n 1902—wel l befor e Prous t bega n writing la Recherche in 190 7 or 1908. 1 The enthusias m o f the Lartigue s for th e ne w machines o f speed wa s boundless . Th e fathe r owne d a successio n o f early model automobile s an d th e youn g Lartigu e kep t u p wit h th e rapidly evolvin g technology b y takin g many pictures o f the first days of automobiles an d airplane s i n France . Amon g hi s favorit e subjects wer e automobil e races , boats , trains , glide r launchings , the first propeller-driven airplanes , the horse races at Auteuil, an d the first publi c bathin g foray s a t Biarrit z an d Etretat. 2 H e als o photographed th e more traditiona l parad e o f beautiful an d fash ionable women alon g the avenue d u Bois (no w the avenue Foch ) and especiall y in th e prim e Proustia n location , th e alle e des Aca cias in th e Bois d e Boulogne. Her e th e precociou s photographe r 39 40 TH E PROUSTIAN QUEST set u p hi s camer a da y after da y and waite d fo r th e "professiona l beauties" t o pas s by, just a s the Narrato r doe s for Mm e Swann . There ar e a number o f striking similaritie s betwee n thes e pho tographs an d Proust' s description s o f girl s i n motion ; bot h th e photographer an d th e write r caugh t scene s tha t ar e notabl e fo r their dynamism , freshness, an d spontaneit y Lartigu e ha s left u s a record of the period fashion i n sporting attire and of the design o f ace cars and airplanes, as well as assorted objects of luxury, not t o mention beautifu l wome n photographe d i n stardin g positions o r angles. (Whil e o n thei r honeymoon , h e photographe d hi s firs t wife, Bibi, sitting on the toilet! ) The religio n o f spee d note d b y Octav e Mirbeau , Guil laume Apollinaire, and others of the period—especially th e Futur ists —can be see n i n many o f Lartigue's photograph s o f speedin g machines an d huma n figures flying throug h space . Among Lar tigue 's well-known photograph s o f the earl y years are the follow ing Proustian instantanis: young ladies , boys, and men leapin g o n the beach, 3 divin g int o swimmin g pools , o r ridin g bicycles ; speeding motorcar s arreste d i n motion ; airplane s soarin g an d sometimes crashing ; an d tenni s players , golfers, an d cyclists . Lar tigue 's photographs hav e an ai r o f innocent, youthfu l exuberanc e and d o no t contai n th e stron g an d troublin g eroti c tone s wit h which Proust endow s his figures in motion . Lartigue's pictures captured the antics and insouciance of the belle epoqu e a s i t trul y wa s fo r thos e o f th e middl e an d uppe r classes, a splendid period of energy and progress that lasted until the outbreak of World War I. In his photographs of the period, there is no hint of trouble or impending danger; only...