Series produced and initiated in France in 2014 with Food Banks on the theme of “Fighting against waste” and continued in 2021/2022 with exotic fruits endemic to Brazil during a creative residency in Rio de Janeiro at the invitation of the French Embassy. The issue of food waste concerns us all, including food photographers who have to waste food and often find themselves the first prescribers of the dictatorship of Beauty. Accustomed to working with the ultimate in fresh produce, the artist wanted the series to be entirely produced with damaged products considered unfit for sale.
Thus, in this set of images, Pauline Daniel in turn wanted to aesthetically reveal the fruits and vegetables that are damaged and about to be thrown away. Both during the first work sessions in France and later in Brazil, it was by dissecting the food and carrying out meticulous work in the darkness of the photo studio that the photographer sought to highlight the actual intrinsic flavor of each product.
The images often constructed in diptychs offer the two possible facets of the same food; the raw side damaged then its worked version revealing its inner brilliance. The spectator/consumer is thus invited to question the tyranny of appearances which turns out to be so misleading; once peeled and worked on, the blackened or necrotic fruits and vegetables turn out not only to be fit for consumption but also worthy of the tastiest dishes. Borrowing from the register of seduction, the images raise the question of attraction and repulsion and offer a path of thought towards the notion of “Beautiful inside”.
Saison Photo de l’Epau 2022
Until November 6th, 2022
Abbaye Royale de l’Epau
Route de Changé
72530 Yvré l’Evêque
0243842229
https://epau.sarthe.fr/
