Robert Polidori – The Palace of Versailles
Robert Polidori is a Canadian-born photographer currently residing in New York. He is one of the most acclaimed photographers of human habitats and environments. Polidori began his fascination with Versailles after winning an exclusive contract to document the restoration of the seventeenth-century palace. Photographs are full of thought-provoking contradictions, focusing on the signs of time and wear, as well as the effort required for preserving such a monument. We see rooms once inhabited by the most privileged classes in European history, now covered with plastic sheets. These rooms are the mirror of those who inhabited them, revealing the aspects of the character and soul of their owners. Luxurious interiors are left to decay and recently-painted walls are left to dry. The royal chambers and all lavish furnishing are replaced by more mundane equipment of working crews. The result seems to be melancholic, but it is more like a reserved and ironic comment of what it really takes for grandeur to sustain itself.
