Heads or tails, the world has two facets: one grey and chaotic, the other luminous and sterile. During a stay of two years in Delhi, Olivier Culmann was interested in the use of photography in India. Particularly present and prolific, this very codified culture offers a rich field of experimentation for the photographer. A magic mirror of a better world, or the whole image almost flirts with the imaginary: from avatars to animal heads to westernized characters present in advertising, passing the staging proposed by the photo studios. Olivier Culmann grabs hold of the visual codes of this country and suggests a reflection on the limits of the representation, on the function desired from the image.. What vision do Indians have of themselves? In the series “Diversions” he asked the digital laboratories to rework his own photos, applying their skills, usually used to meet advertising needs. Rehabilitating public spaces and transforming excessively the real, the result gives the reflected – or fantasized – view of what is commonly called Shining India.
Olivier Culmann
He was born in 1970 in Paris.
Social conditioning and free will haunt Olivier Culmann’s work. Straddling the absurd and the derisory, his work analyses with a microscopic acuity our daily lives and our connection with the images. Coming back without letting up on his obsessions – and ours – he carries us along with his humour and his art of narration.
1993-1999 Realisation of “Les Mondes de l’école” with Mat Jacob.
2001 Publication of “Les Mondes de l’école“, Marval, Paris.
Publication of “Une vie de poulet“, Filigranes, Paris.
2004 Publication of “Intouchables“, Atlantica. Biarritz.
2006 Series « Watching TV » is exhibited in part of Rencontres internationales de la photographie in Arles.
2008 Exhibition of « Les Mondes de l’école » , the Eiffel tour in Paris.
3rd Award World Press Photo with his series « Watching TV » (category « Contemporary Issues »)
2011 Publication of « Watching TV », Textuel, Paris.
Exhibition of « Watchers » Pavillon Carré de Baudouin, Paris.
2015 Exhibition of « The Others » Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône.
Publication of« The Others », Xavier Barral, Paris.
