In every photo, he's there. A man in a hat, looming. It's the common theme throughout "Predator," a photo book curated by French collector Jean-Marie Donat.
The man, of course, is different each time. And he's not really a predator. It's just the amateur photographer behind the lens. These photos come from all over the world, from as far back as the 1920s. "The hat becomes the narrative thread of the entire series," Donat told Anne-Frederique Fer in a recent interview for the France Fine Art Gallery. "We forget the status of the photographer and we think more of a third party who is evil or who you could relate to the main character of the 1930 horror movie 'M' or a hunter."
Jean-Marie Donat Collection/Innocences Publishing
Donat has been working for 30 years in the publishing industry, and he has accumulated photos throughout his travels in Europe and the United States. He's always looking for interesting themes to highlight.
Jean-Marie Donat Collection/Innocences Publishing
"The Predator series comes from what we taught amateur photographers early on: If you want to take a successful photograph of your family, above all avoid backlighting," Donat told Fer. "To avoid backlighting you put yourself, the photographer, with your back to the sun. You put your family facing the sun, and you take a lovely photo. Most of the time the amateur photographer, often the dad, takes a picture of himself."
Jean-Marie Donat Collection/Innocences Publishing
Donat told Fer he prefers older photos. "I found that the aesthetic up until the 1960s, 1970s worked for me and that I liked it," he said. "There was a moment when I said to myself that it must be that the passage of time, the filter of time, (that) causes images to take on an aesthetic interest. I'm also a record collector. And I realized that for music to interest me, it has to be at least 30 years old."
"Predator" is available now through Innocences. Click through to see more images from the book.
