The scene is the "Schueberfouer", the annual fun-fair in Luxembourg, a traditional and popular event that attracts families from all strata of society.
There is always something going on at a fun-fair: the hustle and bustle, the smell of cooking fat, the commotion, the strident colors; all the senses are wide-awake, with extreme demands being made not only of the eyes, but of the nose and the ears as well.
A fun-fair means superabundance: mountains of furry toys, gallons of beer, tons of pommes frites. But a fun-fair also reveals the pathetic aspect of man's simple pleasures, the emptiness of relationships, the dearth of feeling. Yvan Klein attempts to capture this discrepancy in his photographs. His sociological gaze unmasks, though not without humor, this gaudy world as it sinks into a dark paradox. After all, the mass is nothing other than the sum of isolated individuals.
The search for fun often ends in the tears of frustrated children; nowhere do they scream more than on a merry-go-round. All deception, all show. We want our money back!
France Clarinval