José NICOLAS (1956) - Lot 284

José NICOLAS (1956) Pampelonne Beach, Saint Tropez, 1993 Digital print On back, signed, dated, titled and numbered 1/8 Dimensions including margins: 50 x 40 cm Note: Taken in 1993 on Pampelonne beach in Saint-Tropez, this photograph by José Nicolas captures an emblematic scene of the Riviera in the 1990s: a moment of seaside performance in which a young woman poses topless in front of an amateur photographer. The composition skilfully plays on contrasts - between the model's confident posture, the photographer's concentration and the luminous immensity of the Mediterranean Sea in the background. With his keen sense of social observation, Nicolas captures the light-hearted yet theatrical atmosphere of the beaches of the Tropez, where the body becomes a spectacle and the photograph itself becomes part of the setting. This image, bathed in bright light and crossed by the photographer's shadow, bears witness to the era and its codes, while revealing the discreet irony and humanity of the photographer's gaze.