Two things come to mind when you are in front of Cyrille Dubreuil’s series of five tableaux THE BOW: one is the most memorable iconic “Flying” scene of the 1997 blockbuster Titanic when actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet stand up at the bow of the ship spreading wide their arms in the wind while the background music softly playing “My Heart Will Go On”. The second thing is less romantic, what today’s headlines all flashing in unison are about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s divorce announcement after twenty five years of marriage. Love and separation these eternal themes of human life’s happiness and tragedy in a span of a quarter of a century, how did they come up all compressed inside Dubreuil’s five still landscapes? That is the magic of photography, it is perhaps too “lieu commun” to say that, the power of photography that conjures up images that had been deeply buried inside our psyche and make them live again and vibrate in our heart that will go on and on.
Those empty docking bays and gigantic bow shaped concrete warehouses are the modern day pyramids created by the two Pharaoe figures Jeff Bezos and Jack Ma, both are the richest men in their respective country that represent the dominating economic powers in the world: US and China, all thanks to the invention of the concept of logistics in the 19thcentury of military origin by Frenchman Antoine-Henri Jomini. Without Amazon or Alibaba (both starting with the first letter of the alphabet) these warehouses would not have existed nor have Cyrille Dubreuil’s architectural photography.
In these five images, the composition and the shooting angles reveal movement in the stoic motionless concrete as in the slow but heroic progress of the bow of Titanic fending off waves. The blue shadows in the mysterious openings of the docking bay betray the possible menace of wild things locked in the dark cages of some futuristic robot zoos (Bow #5). The bright orange container poses the question of the fashion trend of the “New Black”, why are there no black color containers ever? (Bow #3) In the end, the topography of vast spatiality devoid of human presence only magnifies the sacredness of these cathedrals as transcendental worship places for a society of consumption, of buying and selling, they only need a cross to be planted on their roof (Bow #7). However we are not totally helpless, Dubreuil was generous enough to preserve an eerie presence in this future world soon to be populated by robots and driverless automobiles, the refreshing presence of these two lonely trees, the tree of life in their magnificent green. (Bow #1 and Bow #8).
Jean Loh
Photo curator based in Shanghai – regular contributor to Eye of Photography.com and founder of beaugeste photo gallery (2007-2018).
Cyrille Dubreuil’s THE BOW will be shown at the Chelsea International Photography Exhibition.
Jurors’ Pick – 2018 Selected Artists https://www.agora-gallery.com/Competition/photography/photography-results-2018/
Agora Gallery 530 West 25thStreet New York, NY, USA
OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday February 21st, 6-8pm
Agora Gallery presents the following images from the 2018 selected artists of the Chelsea International Photography Competition. Note that the images shown below are representative of the selected photographers’ works, and do not necessarily reflect the final artwork which will be shown in the Chelsea International Photography Competition Exhibition.
About Cyrille Dubreuil
Professional photographer born in Lyon in 1968, Cyrille Dubreuil, member of the French professional photographers union UPP (Union des Photographes Professionnels) and of the American Society of Media Photographers , has been specialized himself in the fields of architecture, industry and construction for close to 20 years.
After studying history in arts at the Sorbonne University Paris he graduated with a master degree in communication at the CELSA and worked for Group Danone and Gras Savoy in corporate communication. In Hong Kong where he lived from 2000 to 2006, he became the assistant and manager for Belgian industrial photographer Liesse Production, He worked on city landmarks such as the two tallest towers (Two International Finance Center, International Commerce Center), the Ngong Ping 360 cable car, the Guangdong Province liquefied natural gas terminal and the CSPC Nanhai petrochemicals Project in China, working for major companies like the MTR Corporation, Henderson Land, Sun Hung Kai, Bechtel, Bouygues… as well as for the Government (Architectural Services Department).
Back to Paris, France, he organized construction photographic follow-up of several electric power stations in Pont-sur-Sambre, Bayet and Toul, and worked with architects, agencies and property developers on public or private residential properties or offices.
In Milan, Italy, from 2013 to 2016 he shared his time between France and Italy increasing his expertise in office buildings photography and large-scale logistic platforms.
Now based in New York he will continue to build and offer his own vision and photographic aesthetic on the city and urban landscapes.
His architectural or construction photographs can be found in many companies’ annual reports or brochures, architecture agencies portfolios, public services communications tools and books.
