Flou
2018-Present
In the Paris salon of 1846 Charles Baudelaire, poet and writer, spoke out strongly against photographic portraiture (Daguerrotypy) criticizing its “exaggerated reality”. He openly opposed its mechanical verisimilitude, which he thought would inevitably corrupt public taste and destroy artistic imagination. Later in 1859, as other processes such as the wet plate collodian negative and carte-de -visite albumen print flourished, Baudelaire posed for a portrait by Nadar. His left side appears slightly out of focus – an accidental aesthetic that is said to have gotten his unexpected approval. In a similar vein, in 1865, he wrote to request a commissioned photographic portrait of his mother and explained that while accuracy was desirable, so was a certain “flou” or fuzziness like a drawing.
In my own series “Flou”, I attempt to give a modern day interpretation to traditional portraiture using the poses and colors of the 19th century as inspiration. There is also evidence in the work of defying the desirable image sharpness and diffused light present in 19th century portraiture. Photographed with available window light in Provence, I asked local residents for a sitting. The dynamics between Baudelaire, Nadar, the Salon Painters and the dialogue of technology vs. art between 1839 and 1862 inspired this work.
Français
Au Salon de Paris de 1846, Charles Baudelaire, poète et écrivain, s'élevait fermement contre le portrait photographique (Daguerrotype) et critiquait sa "réalité exagérée". Il s'opposait ouvertement à sa vraisemblance mécanique qui, selon lui, corromprait inévitablement le goût du public et détruirait l'imagination artistique. Plus tard en 1859, alors que d'autres procédés comme le collodion humide et le portrait carte-de-visite sur papier albuminé se développent, Baudelaire pose pour un portrait de Nadar. La partie gauche de son portrait semble légèrement floue - un accident esthétique qui aurait obtenu son approbation inattendue. Dans le même ordre d'idées, en 1865, il passait commande d'un portrait photographique de sa mère et précisait que si l'exactitude était souhaitable, il en était de même pour un certain " flou " ou imprécision rappelant un dessin.
Dans ma propre série "Flou", j'essaie de proposer une interprétation contemporaine à ces portraits traditionnels en m'inspirant des poses et des couleurs du XIXe siècle. J'ai invité des gens à poser près d'une fenêtre et les ai photographiés à la lumière naturelle de la Provence. La dynamique entre Baudelaire, Nadar, les peintres du Salon et le dialogue entre la technologie et l'art entre 1839 et 1862 ont inspiré cette œuvre.
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