Vineyard pollards of Burgundy winemakers - from Fixin to Beaune passing through the Côtes de Nuits and Clos-Vougeot by Henri Gro

This document, which we intended as a photo album rather than an exhibition catalog, is the result of the chance discovery and love for ancient things that must remain tomorrow to bear witness to yesterday.

Out of a collection of over 130 original photographs, we have selected 100. The photographer, whose skilled eye knew how to capture the light and shadows unique to the people and landscapes of Burgundy, is Henri Gros. We still know very little about this amateur photographer who was a member of the Burgundian Photo-Club. We know that he lived in Dijon (Boulevard Sévigné) and was around fifty years old in 1940.

A critic who wrote in the Annales de Bourgogne described him as "a lover of light games and a practitioner of blur". Henri Gros must have been from one of the families of the Côte region. Even today, over 70 years later, we still find many families with this surname, working as winemakers. This is probably what led Henri Gros to follow the winemakers of Fixin, Clos-Vougeot, and the Côtes de Nuits, which you will have the pleasure of discovering here.

Henri Gros' photographs have won awards in various exhibitions and competitions, but one cannot help but feel the humility of an artist always closer to the land and people than to honors and laurels.

This selection of 100 chosen photographs presents only the work of vineyards and wine by men and women of the region. They were taken spontaneously, mostly in the heart of the vineyards of the Côte, between 1933 and 1950. Some are signed and dated. Most are of a size close to 20 x 30 cm. Henri Gros took care to show in each of his photographs the hardship of work, the beauty of the landscapes, the pride of men, the joy of being together. All these visions and feelings mixed together transpire in each shot. It is also, and above all, the memory of faces now gone but who, thanks to him, will remain bright forever.

These "Vineyard Faces," as we have liked to call them, are here today to remind us of a certain humility, a deep respect for these men and women who gave everything for their vineyards and wines. We can only bow down and admire without reservation this black and white album, yet colors burst forth at any moment. In the wide smile of that young vineyard worker, or in the smile of that older one, elegantly adorned to protect herself from the scorching September sun. Or those men raising a glass with such pleasure that it pierces the image and reaches us to bring a little joy. Every aspect of vineyard work is shown to us.

Henri Gros apparently left only one illustrated work with his photographs, "Images de Bourgogne," published in Dijon by Darantière in 1943. The text of this work is by Roger Tisserand. This volume, printed in 800 copies on glossy paper, features several photos from Henri Gros' archives that you will find here in this album. A second work that was supposed to be titled "Autres images de Bourgogne" was mentioned as being in preparation. It never materialized. One can imagine that the war prevented the completion of this second work. We do not know in what year Henri Gros passed away. The photo album we offer you today is a tribute to this man and to those who left their image for our grandchildren to remember.

We let the modern observer travel to these magnificent landscapes amidst these illuminated faces.

Bertrand Hugonnard-Roche,
September 7, 2016, the feast day of Saint Reine