Our photographs draw their inspiration from the iconography of advertisements. The characters that appear in them are young and dynamic, and the settings reflect stereotypical social success. But the photographs also show multiple cracks that undermine the image of happiness so overused in our consumer society. The subjects seem lost in a moment of absence, unaware of the current state of the economy. The body and its gaze reveal the fragility of their existence and the vanity of their possessions. In this suspended moment, photography shows us what we would not otherwise be able to feel or describe. Faced with these silent photos, the viewer is led to reflect on the visual environment and be carried away by dreams. These (untitled) photographs are taken from two series, Transitions (2008-2011) and Fin de Partie (2011-2012, which is an on going project. Each image requires elaborate staging, with a script, scenery and actors. By choosing to infuse the scenes with our presence, we play on the confusion and artificiality of the identity of modern man.
Olivia Leriche & Vincent Goutal
Olivia and Vincent have worked together since 2008. After studying at the Ecole Normale Supérieur de la rue d’Ulm, Vincent trained under Chris Kilip at Harvard’s visual arts department. Olivia Leriche studied literature at the Sorbonne and then at the Ecole des Arts Plastiques de la rue de Seine.
