“It Concerns All of Us”, -Discovering Jean-Louis Courtinat in Gallery DOKFOTO KESKUS, Tallinn.
I arrived in Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, today. I’m here to attend and report from Foto Tallinn, the photography festival taking place this coming weekend. There is plenty to look forward to over the next few days, including Fotografiska Tallinn, which is currently showing a major exhibition of work by Latvian photographer Inta Ruka, followed by the opening of a major Vivian Maier exhibition later this week.
But before all of that, I stumbled across something rather unexpected.
Just across the courtyard from the main entrance to Fotografiska, I noticed a grey building marked by large, bright yellow letters: “DOKFOTO KESKUS.”. I had no idea what was inside. Naturally, that made me curious. So I walked in.Two friendly people welcomed me and gave me a brief introduction to the exhibition currently on display. I then wandered through the bright gallery spaces on my own. And this is where I discovered Jean-Louis Courtinat.
A photographer who earns trust
The exhibition, It Concerns All of Us, brings together nearly 80 black-and-white photographs spanning more than four decades of Courtinat’s work. His subjects include patients and healthcare workers, adults and children, people living with illness, poverty and exclusion, as well as those approaching the end of life.
The photographs are powerful. But what struck me first was not simply what they depict. It was the extraordinary degree of intimacy in the pictures. These are not photographs you simply walk into a room and take. There is a level of access here that can only come from trust, -trust between the photographer and the people he photographs, but also between the photographer and the healthcare professionals who allow him into these environments. Without that trust, these photographs would simply not exist. And that, perhaps more than anything, is what makes the project so remarkable.
Courtinat’s approach is deeply relational. He can spend weeks or even months with people before taking out his camera, and he often remains in contact with them after the photographic work is finished. That sense of time is visible in the pictures. There is very little feeling of intrusion. Very little sense that people are performing for the camera. Instead, Courtinat seems to wait for life to happen in front of him. And then he presses the shutter.
Thinking of Anders Petersen
As I moved through the exhibition, my thoughts inevitably turned to Anders Petersen and two of his best-known projects, Café Lehmitz and Fängelse. Not necessarily because the photographic style is the same. It isn’t. The connection I felt was more about trust. There has to be an extraordinary level of trust between photographer and subject to create documentary work this intimate without it becoming staged or self-conscious.
Petersen has demonstrated that ability in many of his projects, and I felt something similar here. Courtinat appears to have been present for long enough that the camera almost disappears. The people in front of it are simply allowed to exist. There are few obvious signs of posed or arranged images. Instead, the photographs feel like moments that were already there, waiting to be noticed. That is a difficult kind of documentary photography to achieve.
Traditional technique, powerful photographs
Stylistically, however, Courtinat takes a more traditional approach than Petersen. These are classic black-and-white photographs, with a fairly natural range of contrast and a strong sense of traditional darkroom craftsmanship. Petersen, by comparison, has made extreme contrast and dramatic tonal relationships almost part of his visual signature. Courtinat doesn’t need that.
His photographs derive much of their power from the situations themselves, from faces, gestures, relationships and the quiet tension of being present in places where vulnerability is part of everyday life. The technique stays relatively unobtrusive.
A name that had escaped my radar
I have to admit something: Jean-Louis Courtinat was a completely unfamiliar name to me. And that was perhaps one of the most enjoyable discoveries of the visit. We have a tendency to search for the big names in photography. The photographers whose books we know, whose exhibitions we have seen, whose names constantly circulate through the international photography world.
But there are so many talented photographers out there who never quite end up on the international radar. Some simply weren’t in the right place at the right time. Others have spent decades working quietly and persistently on subjects they believe in, without ever receiving the kind of international attention that brings their work into wider consciousness. I’m not suggesting that this necessarily describes Courtinat’s career, -I simply don’t know enough about it to make that claim.
But I can say that I consider myself reasonably well informed when it comes to photography, and somehow Jean-Louis Courtinat had escaped my radar until now. That makes discovering this exhibition even more rewarding.
Four decades of looking at people
Courtinat has been photographing for more than 40 years and belongs to the French tradition of social and humanist photography. He worked as an assistant to the legendary French photographer Robert Doisneau, and his career has focused consistently on people who, in one way or another, find themselves at the margins of society.
People that approaching the end of their lives or children undergoing cancer treatment. Homelessness and poverty. Refugees or Prisoners, they has all bin in front of these photographer. But the photographs are not really about categories. They are about people. That distinction matters. Courtinat doesn’t seem interested in turning his subjects into symbols of poverty, illness or exclusion. Instead, he photographs the human beings within those circumstances — their vulnerability, dignity, humour, longing and resilience.
And perhaps that is where the title of the exhibition becomes most meaningful. It Concerns All of Us. Because ultimately, vulnerability is not something that belongs exclusively to someone else.
A small discovery worth making
If you are in Tallinn before January 3, 2027, you still have time to see the exhibition at Juhan Kuusi Dokfoto Keskus. And I would definitely make the effort. Especially if, like me, you are already visiting Fotografiska Tallinn, there is really no excuse not to walk across the courtyard and have a look.
What began for me as a completely accidental discovery turned into one of those small photographic encounters that make travelling to another city worthwhile. And there is another reason to keep an eye on Dokfoto Keskus. Because this is much more than a gallery. The centre is dedicated to documentary photography and also offers educational programmes, events and other activities for photographers and photography enthusiasts. It even has its own darkroom.
In other words, it is not simply a place where photographs are hung on walls. It is a photographic centre. And for anyone interested in documentary photography, it is a place worth knowing about. So, if you find yourself in Tallinn, take the short walk from Fotografiska and look for those big yellow letters.
DOKFOTO KESKUS.
You might just discover a photographer you didn’t know you were looking for!
Visit Dokfoto Keskus internet site (link)