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1968: on the set of the film “Slogan”, Gainsbourg was still pouting about Brigitte Bardot when Birkin was getting separated from the father of her daughter. Their first encounter was far from love at first sight; it fizzled out rather quickly. But the improbable love story between the muse and the artist is told here in all its impertinence throughout 176 pages. He liked to say “Girls go out with pretty faces and big actors, but they go home with me because I make them laugh.” She liked to say “I dragged him onto the dance floor, where he got all intimated and stepped on my feet. He was so charming! Coming from someone arrogant, little blunders have a power of seduction over me.” Until 1980 when they eventually broke up, Andrew Birkin was a regular host of the legendary tandem. He captured thousands of moments in the intimacy of their family. These shots are finally being revealed, offering the reader a trip to the heart of a magnified, or rather magnificent, past: an erotic, sly, and light-hearted era described through the daily life of the couple of the 70s.
Alongside images of the clan we know and love so well are anecdotes, memories, and stories about Serge, Jane, their love, their respective childhoods, their family, their friends. Nothing more, but at the same time, so much more. Conceived by M/M and published by Les Editions Taschen, the photo album is presented with a see-through plastic cover that also encloses a booklet of contact sheets, a poster that unfolds, 5 photos, and an embroidered coat of arms. Andrew’s photographers were also able to illustrate this declaration from Jane Birkin: “Serge gave me a second childhood.” And that’s indeed how it would appear. An almost naive and romantic happiness… a powerful and true love transpires from this glossy paper. All in all, this is perhaps the subject of the book. But why not ask them directly? On October 22nd from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in the Boutique Taschen, on 2 rue de Buci in Paris, the dedication ceremony for the book Jane & Serge will take place in the presence of Andrew and Jane Birkin.
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