About a year ago, give or take a few days, during Paris Photo 2024, our colleague Alain Ernoult asked for my opinion on his latest creative approach. He had brought together his desire to showcase his exceptional photographic work on animal species in decline and his hope of enabling these animals, whose future is uncertain, to call out to us by questioning us through their own relationship with this planet on which we must coexist.
On that basis Alain showed me not just the mock-up but the prototype of the creative book project he had patiently produced. The entire conceptual framework was already in place, with a beautifully crafted binding suited to the seriousness and urgency of the subject, in a case to match. The photographic printing was entrusted to a top-of-the-range digital lab in the Paris suburbs, specialising quality-wise in luxury books. The work of art that this book represents clearly belongs to the field of literary artistic creations, with the counterpart of a very limited print run. In this case, production is limited to thirty certified and numbered copies.
As for the content, it is the work of a great professional and a passionate photographer. It is from his own iconic images, which we have been able to view and admire in numerous exhibitions, depicting the disappearance of our fellow inhabitants of Earth, that he constructs his messages. Our creator produces astonishing and symbolically explosive montages. Our creator produces astonishing montages that are symbolically explosive. We realise, in fact, that humankind is certainly not the only one that might claim ownership of the Earth; we discover that each species can have its own version of appropriation.
In the continuity of the “Sixth Extinction”, his photographs remain the essential backbone of previously unseen images. Through their light, the way the images are built, and their compositions crucial in shaping the discourse we see the emergence of an alarm and a growing emotional charge, page after page. The control of tones and densities has always given the photographs of the great photojournalist Alain Ernoult an extra dimension in delivering information with a strong impact, which would remain banal in the hands of others. In his methodical constructions, observations have become creative works serving the photographed subjects and their cause. In this remarkable book, it is clear that a subject, however emblematic it may be, would not amount to much without being brought into being through a great deal of competent work. When the maker is competent, a work such as this is fully justified.
Of course, the very limited number of copies will not allow everyone to enjoy it. It would be appropriate if, without taking anything away from this creation, an edition—obviously more partial and less sophisticated—could make it accessible to a wider audience.
Thierry Maindrault
ENSEMBLE LIVRESQUE
Size 21 cm x 30 cm
Art Collector: deluxe box, black cold-foil stamping, with a red ribbon.
Hardcover, printed, with matte anti-scratch lamination, sewn binding with red headbands, black front and back endpapers printed in offset.
Interior on 150 g Périgord matte coated paper, comprising 224 double-sided pages, fine-art digital printing.
Each copy is signed and numbered, from 1 to 30, with a certificate of authenticity in each box.
Prices for each set:
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Nos. 01 to 10: 500 euros;
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Nos. 11 to 20: 800 euros;
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Nos. 21 to 30: 1,500 euros.
CONTACT
+33 (0)6 09 69 20 00
[email protected]
https://ernoult.art
