My 3 mountains
These mountains that he makes his own – text by Agnès Mamelonet
Of Corsican origin, his gaze nourished from an early age by the profusion of granite, Jean-Pierre Giovannangeli never ceases to experiment with art in photography. He has often magnified these hard rocks with strange shapes, which come in shades of gray and pink, omnipresent in his native south. Walking the mule tracks, wandering in the maquis, strolling and strolling along the creeks or walking in the mountains, has gradually brought him closer to these three mountains, which are Ventoux, Lozère and Incudine to the point of link to them. Indeed, each path to be taken on these mountains becomes a pretext for the photographic act. Whether it is a walk framed by enigmatic red and blue stakes, a hike guided by “standing stones” or even an anvil. The photographer marvels at the multitude of facets these mountains offer him, but also their similarities, their harshness, their raw landscape.
With the bias of black and white, his photographic approach in no way defends Manichaeism in this vegetal nature reduced to its simplest expression among the scree. On the contrary, Jean-Pierre purifies his photos in search of the truth. From this a priori hostile environment, emanates a particular universe. The photographer’s eye spots feminine curves in the midst of polar vegetation, circular, curled up, or on the lunar slopes sometimes covered with snow; his gaze tames the landscapes obscured by the immensity of the clouds and plays with contrasts.
When I walk with Jean-Pierre, I take a break and take the time, guided by his “clicks”. Take the time to simply look at what seems usually hidden from my eager eyes and which manifests itself in all humility, without any artifice. Together. Rediscover the poetry and beauty that these imposing mountains conceal within them.
Agnès Mamelonet
https://www.instagram.com/giovannangelijp/
