It was thanks to the organization of Imaginaires Emancipés by Akaa during Manifesta Lyon and to the collaboration of the Magnin • A gallery that I learned about and could study the work of Nathalie Boutté.
The first reflex is to consider the results of her exceptional know-how for graphic, even sculptural works in their final outcome.
A little too easy for a photographer to give an opinion on a first deduction. When it comes to photography, it is more likely that all impressions count. When light, in all its forms, remembers us, then the substance of the print as well as its form are there. Better, this reflection is valid as well for the materialized physical aspect of the print as for the emotional aspect of the print which will be felt by the reader.
Manual intervention in photography, for its construction and / or its completion, has never been prohibitive, even if it is administered by a third party (many are the “great” photographers who would always be unknown if they had not met “great” printers).
The works re-interpreted by Nathalie, from the magnificent photographs of Rufus W. Holsinger which are archived in the beautiful photographic collection of the University of Virginia, deserve our full admiration.
Certainly photography has taken off from the snapshot in capturing light; but, the restitution of an image is very often a question of patience and time. Especially to achieve a result that is both challenging and moving at the same time.
Thierry Maindrault
http://www.magnin-a.com/fr/artistes/presentation/76/nathalie-boutte
