CAPTURED IN TIME
BAUME & MERCIER REINFORCED ITS COMMITMENT TO THE WORLD OF PHOTOGRAPHY BY PRESENTING A WORLD-PREMIERE PREVIEW OF WORK BY GERARD RANCINAN AND CAROLINE GAUDRIAULT THROUGH ‘THE PHOTOGRAPHER’ DISPLAY IN PARIS. BY VEYOLEEN MEHROTRA

HELDin Paris at the Palais de Tokyo Mezzanine, the world premiere of ‘The Photographer’ exposition was made truly memorable thanks to the presence of eminent photographers, such as Reza, James Nachtwey, David Burnett, Elliott Erwitt, Antonin Kratochvil, Roman Opalka, Ragnar Axelsson and many others. Scheduled to coincide with Paris Photo, the opening was attended by enthusiasts such as Pascal Gentil, Sandrine Quétier, Adriana and Christian Karembeu.

It all began with Baume & Mercier’s interest in photography a few years ago. By identifying the parallels that exist between photography and watchmaking—proximity, timelessness, quality, expertise, universality and accessibility—Baume& Mercier is now involved with a stream of expression that is regarded as a major art form of the 21st century. Since then, it has involved itself in numerous international projects and reaffirmed its

dedication to this field. From being an observer to now an active participant, Baume & Mercier conceptualised and produced ‘The Photographer’ project. By joining hands with Caroline Gaudriault and Gerard Rancinan, the brand has paid a tribute to the surviving masters of modern photography.

These include Araki, Elliot Erwitt, Martin Parr, Sebastiao Salgado, James Nachtwey, Ragnar Axelsson, Mimmo Jodice, Oliviero Toscani, Mary Ellen Mark, Eikoh Hosoe, Patrick Demarchelier, David Burnett, Albert Watson, Reza, Pierre and Gilles, Peter Lindbergh, Marc Riboud, Malick Sidibé, Antonin Kratochvil, Roman Opalka, Ron

Galella, Rankin and David LaChapelle. The occasion also witnessed the launch of the book—a compilation of the photographers’ portraits and their interviews as conducted by leading reporter Caroline Gaudriault. To mark this event, the interior of the Palais de Tokyo’s Mezzanine was designed like the inside of a print shop in the midst of making the book. Some blow-ups of the photographs from the book were marked up, underlined, stained and printed to give visitors the impression of seeing the pages of an imaginary book in preparation.

Our customers don’t want us to be another brand; they come to us because we are Baume & Mercier.

“WHENyou think about photography, you think moments, immediacy, time, creation, aesthetics and memory.

Now if you consider all these values in relation to Baume & Mercier, you’ll find that it fits perfectly,” said Michel Nieto, Chief Executive Officer of Baume & Mercier while highlighting the similarities between photography and the brand.

"By selecting photography as their communication tool, Baume & Mercier has adopted an undeniably innovative approach. This individualistic character is in sync with their range of watches that exude a classic yet contemporary demeanour. Michel Nieto throws some light on the brand’s numerous associations and plans for the future.

TELL US ABOUT BAUME & MERCIER’S ASSOCIATION WITH PHOTOGRAPHY.

In 2005, we chose photography as our new communications strategy. Since then, we’ve worked with many qualitative projects and are now part of some of the leading photography festivals in the world like PhotoEspaña, Photo Italia, etc. We selected photography as the avenue for our communication because there are values that are common to both, photography (a modern art) as well as watchmaking. When you think about photography, you think moments, immediacy, time, creation, aesthetics and memory. Now if you consider all these values in relation to Baume & Mercier, you’ll find that it fits perfectly. So there