Metropolis
I have been practicing pinhole photography for more than 20 years, during which my work has mainly been focused on aquatic landscapes, seas, lakes … so many smooth surfaces flattened by the long exposure times imposed by the camera obscura. This process, imperfect and random, allows me to transcend reality and gives my images a poetic and dreamlike dimension.
With this series “Metropolis”, born two years ago, the framework has changed but the intention is the same, consisting here of transforming the urban space into a strange world, between dream and science fiction. A world where reality fades to create a soft and indefinite atmosphere. The human presence, resulting from a meticulously prepared staging, gives the measure of the vastness of the space while plunging us into a distant but familiar illusion.
This work is also for me the culmination and the meeting point of my two photographic practices – pinhole and street photography.
Christian Poncet
