Since 2007, photographer Julien Chapsal has led a major project in France that he has been developing in several independant and complementary series. With L’été [Summer], he continues his exploration of places and people throughout different area of France, from the coast to the mountains, from lakes to rivers. Over the course of his travels, others join him: “Manet, Cartier-Bresson, Hopper, Duras, Le Clézio… They are neither influences or references, just travelling companions.”
The works presented here have the timeless beauty of our vacation memories: tender colors, soft light, blissful bodies. The subject, though seemingly easy, is treated here with depth. The photographer takes the time to observe poses, gestures, attitudes, and renders beautiful and strong images. The images work with the horizon all while growing narrower on the protagonists, as if highlighting the confinement of the individual in the middle of a group, a space, a moment.
This work, which takes more after formal, pictorial research, than documentary, is also the fruit of a technical approach opposite of current practices: medium format, film, without any retouching or reframing. These are the works of an enthusiast who reveals, in intimate scenes, a collective and social story.
Julien Chapsal, L’été
June 20 through September 1, 2018
Galerie Folia
13 Rue de l’Abbaye
75006 Paris, France
