Henry Wessel: A Dark Thread @ Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris

Henry Wessel Incident No.6 De la série Incidents, 2012 © Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Henry Wessel Incidents No.2 De la série Incidents, 2012 © Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Henry Wessel Incidents No.5 De la série Incidents, 2012 © Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Henry Wessel Incident No.21 De la série Incidents, 2012 © Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Henry Wessel Nevada, 1975 © Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Henry Wessel, San Francisco, 1974
© Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Henry Wessel, Pasadena, California, 1974
© Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Henry Wessel, Incidents No.27, De la série Incidents, 2012 © Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Henry Wessel, Waikiki No.12, 1983 © Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Henry Wessel, California, 1977 © Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Night Walk No. 5, 1998, De la série Sunset Park
© Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Night Walk No.21, 1998, De la série Sunset Park
© Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Henry Wessel, Santa Monica, California, 1989
© Henry Wessel; courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

For five decades, Henry Wessel documented intensifying elements of the uncanny present in scenes of everyday life. As an avid fan of film noir and detective fiction, Wessel arranged his images in sequences like storyboards for films so that viewers could try to make connections and imagine stories between pictures that may have been taken years apart. The prolific photographer worked primarily in black and white, developing his own prints with a characteristic soft silver tone. Henry Wessel created an interpretive, mysterious vision of the places he lived in and visited, with a “dark thread” connecting his photographs to one another.

Henry Wessel: A Dark Thread is on view through August 25 at Maison Européenne de la Photographie 5/7 Rue de Fourcy, Paris, France. photographs courtesy of Maison Européenne de la Photographie