“I would imagine that these Depardon street views would seem almost surreal: the long vistas, the exaggerated perspective, the big skies, the diminution of the human in the context of the larger frame. These images of Govan and Maryhill take on some of the aspects of the background city streets in the paintings of Giorgio Di Chirico or Paul Delvaux. And, indeed, mentioning Delvaux reminds me of the English novelist J.G.Ballard – another connoisseur of the dystopian city. Ballard was very inspired by Delvaux and I think any reader of Ballard would see in Depardon’s images of Glasgow a rendition of the classic Ballardian tropes of alienation, of the modern city’s heartlessness, its aloof unconcern for its inhabitants.”
Read the full essay by William Boyd on Magnum’s website.
