LAZNIA 1 2010 - TRANSPHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL Laurent Mayeux IN ICELAND WITH HOLGA
05.11-19.12.2010
Opening 05.11.2010 at 6 p.m.
Curators: Berenika Podrucka, Anna Szynwelska
Each year the Transphotography Festival creates grounds for discussion on the state of contemporary photography, but this time it also tackles the problem of environment protection and the changes in nature’s condition. Its new character and metamorphoses become a subject for numerous photographic projects. Some artists faithfully document the destructive processes, results of climate change, intensive industrialization and urbanization and show deformed landscapes. On the other hand, some try to document in their photographs the preserved, almost fairytale landscapes or focus on creating imaginary, fantasy worlds.
It is similar in the case of Laurent Mayeux. His poetic, dreamy Icelandic landscapes seem unreal. The impression of the surrealism of the landscapes is enhanced by the technique of multiple exposure which turns the human silhouette into an unclear and foggy part of the scenery. For Mayeux it is the landscape that creates the integral part of the series which connects the elements that are the most important for him, like: light, places, people.
This photographer who practices commercial photography on a daily basis while realising this project which was originally supposed to be a fashion shoot used a non-standard medium format camera – a cheap, Chinese Holga. But what would normally, in a case of a typical camera, be a disadvantage, in the case of Holga turns into an advantage. Its lens is precisely the opposite of what the high quality lens should be like. Made of plastic, usually with distortions, it makes the photographs gain the dream-like atmosphere and feeling. The effect of vignetting – the corners of the image are much darker than the centre – is characteristic here. The body of the camera is not perfectly hermetic and it can sometimes cause light leaking in. In the pictures it can leave a trail of white smudges. All these disadvantages and advantages plus the surprising aesthetic effects made Holga to become the cult camera for the followers of Lomography ideology.
Transphotography Festival is organized in Tricity in cooperation with La Maison de la Photographie in Lille
www.laurent-mayeux.com
http://www.transfotografia.com
Each year the Transphotography Festival creates grounds for discussion on the state of contemporary photography, but this time it also tackles the problem of environment protection and the changes in nature’s condition. Its new character and metamorphoses become a subject for numerous photographic projects. Some artists faithfully document the destructive processes, results of climate change, intensive industrialization and urbanization and show deformed landscapes. On the other hand, some try to document in their photographs the preserved, almost fairytale landscapes or focus on creating imaginary, fantasy worlds.
It is similar in the case of Laurent Mayeux. His poetic, dreamy Icelandic landscapes seem unreal. The impression of the surrealism of the landscapes is enhanced by the technique of multiple exposure which turns the human silhouette into an unclear and foggy part of the scenery. For Mayeux it is the landscape that creates the integral part of the series which connects the elements that are the most important for him, like: light, places, people.
This photographer who practices commercial photography on a daily basis while realising this project which was originally supposed to be a fashion shoot used a non-standard medium format camera – a cheap, Chinese Holga. But what would normally, in a case of a typical camera, be a disadvantage, in the case of Holga turns into an advantage. Its lens is precisely the opposite of what the high quality lens should be like. Made of plastic, usually with distortions, it makes the photographs gain the dream-like atmosphere and feeling. The effect of vignetting – the corners of the image are much darker than the centre – is characteristic here. The body of the camera is not perfectly hermetic and it can sometimes cause light leaking in. In the pictures it can leave a trail of white smudges. All these disadvantages and advantages plus the surprising aesthetic effects made Holga to become the cult camera for the followers of Lomography ideology.
Transphotography Festival is organized in Tricity in cooperation with La Maison de la Photographie in Lille
www.laurent-mayeux.com
http://www.transfotografia.com
BIP