Born in France in 1979, Vincent J. Stoker started to use photography “by necessity” to express artistically the topic he’s almost obsessed with since he discovered an abandoned paper factory in Corbeilles-Essone: ruined locations. His work is called Heterotopia, following the concept of the philosopher, tries to explore other ruined locations, halfway between an utopia and the real world.
In Tragic Fall, he shows spectacular fallows, industrial sites, empty spaces where nature inevitably becomes ruler. “The series show what happens when man withdraws from the megalomaniac constructions he’s responsible for.” It’s an evidence that no civilization is protected from ruin and abandonment. That’s why Vincent J. Stoker sees a certain universality in his work without any geographical logic.
The photographer does not want to view ruins with some reserve – in art, ruins are often treated in a distant way – but brings the public to the heart of the locations he shoots. “Linear perspectives bring the eye of the viewer right in the middle of the image. (…) I want my pictures to make the public feel a little dizzy.”
FESTIVAL
Photo Phnom Penh 2013
November 30th – December 31st, 2013
http://www.institutfrancais-cambodge.com
