Kim Harlow, Stories, a photographic series by Bettina Rheims

Bettina Rheims’s encounter with Kim Harlow, a transgender dancer and cabaret show host, had a profound impact on her work in the early 1990s.

While the series Modern Lovers (1990), featuring the first images of Kim, became an international hit; those of Kim (1991) and The Female Spies (1992) have remained less widely known. The exhibition juxtaposes these three projects and traces the friendship between Kim Harlow and the photographer, while also exploring her reflections on gender identity in the context of the AIDS era. Uncertainty and the idea of upheaval occupy a central place within these images, reflecting the artist’s need to constantly balance herself on a tightrope, between urgency and discomfort. These archives and previously unseen prints reveal Bettina Rheims’s fresh perspective on her work and shed light on the process of creating and selecting the images.

"Thanks to Kim, I've never stopped working on gender issues."

Bettina Rheims

In January 1991, Bettina Rheims created a series of photographs with Kim Harlow, who agreed to “become” Alexandre again based on a scenario devised by the photographer. This relationship of mutual trust led to a book project for which Kim Harlow—who died in 1993 from AIDS—left behind a voice recording and a manuscript, a rare testimony that explores the themes of truth and authenticity. Published in 1994, the book Kim from the outset, through its title and format, it evokes the nature of its content: that of a deeply intimate work that places Kim Harlow’s narrative at the center, subverting the very concept of the photography book—a concept that is nonetheless central to the photographer’s practice.

↘︎ Curating: Gabrielle de la Selle, curator of the photographic archives at the Institut pour la photographie, assisted by Lina Merad, a conservation intern participating in the civic service program

↘︎ Publication: In conjunction with this exhibition, the Institut pour la photographie and the publishing house delpire & co publish Kim Harlow, Stories , the third installment in the series Carnets and the first to be dedicated to the work of Bettina Rheims. This book, which explores the special relationship between Kim Harlow and Bettina Rheims, offers a fresh perspective on the creative process through a selection of previously unpublished archival material chosen by the photographer. Format: 21 x 29.7 cm, square spine, 104 pages. Retail price: €35

Bettina Rheims, Kim en femme fatale I, janvier 1991, Paris © Bettina Rheims, courtesy Fonds de dotation de l'Institut pour la photographie

Bettina Rheims, Kim joue à redevenir un garçon, janvier 1991, Paris © Bettina Rheims, courtesy Fonds de dotation de l’Institut pour la photographie.

Bettina Rheims, Kim dans le miroir de la salle de bains IV, janvier 1991, Paris © Bettina Rheims, courtesy Fonds de dotation de l’Institut pour la photographie.