Details – Up close to Rodin’s Sculptures
Hélène Pinet, Head of Photography Collections Musée Rodin Paris, France 

Rodin’s work has always enjoyed the attention of photographers. From the artist’s lifetime to the present day, many have followed his command to walk around his sculptures and discover their varied viewpoints, then freed themselves to interpret them in their own way. 
Rodin created a rich and complex world, and understanding it takes time. Over the course of several photo shoots, it can become an obsession. should the photographer favour a variety of approaches, or instead concentrate on a single theme? Black and white, or colour? Show the work alone, or in its context? Indeed, how can one resist being seduced by the locations – the warm light of panelled rooms or the verdant surroundings of the Hôtel Biron, home to the musée Rodin? 
Such are the questions Thomas Lohr asked himself before embarking on this work. and once the harvest of images has been gathered in, then the exciting but daunting task of making a selection begins, whether for an exhibition or, as is the case here, for a book. It becomes a question of fixing one’s choice. 
Lohr’s photographs, which frame in close-up Rodin’s rounded forms, intrigue us, and they lead us along the path to abstraction. Turning the pages of this book, our mind pauses, and we instinctively review the artist’s œuvre to find which sculpture the curve of that thigh belongs to, the bend of this arm, that stack of geometric forms. Thus photography enjoys exacting a little revenge upon the sculptor. For we recall that for Rodin, who caused a scandal by displaying pieces of the body – hands, torsos – as complete works, the part stands for the whole. But he alone used this approach; the photographers who worked at his side never represented details of his sculptures in their own works. 
So we needn’t preoccupy ourselves with the subjects represented here. Thomas Lohr’s photographs invite us instead to focus our gaze on the way material has been rendered by the sculptor: the sensuality of marble, the quiver of plaster, or the play of patinas on bronze.