“There’s a crack in everything, that’s how light gets in.” — Leonard Cohen, Anthem
In the rhythm of our often overly repetitive, digital, daily lives, what space have we given to photography as a form of artistic expression? Has the medium truly been reduced to either Instagram selfies or conceptual photography?
I passionately believe that each of us experience visual moments in our daily lives, emotional shocks that change our perception of the world and of photographic art. “There’s a crack in everything, that’s how light gets in”. Absolutely. I believe in the cracks in the mask that is our daily experience. That there are spaces, moments that go unnoticed wherein light and beauty manifest, small culminations that can feel otherworldly, hidden yet somehow omnipresent.
The finite moment when this miracle happens allows us all to experience non-moments we live each day with the vibration of an emotion, the notion of artistic balance, a door opening to something wonderful. Freeing our perceptions of the world allows us to see the art that surrounds us, art that is accessible to all of us, popular art, art that precedes concepts, that touches the soul, that happens suddenly and without explanation.
In 1950, Aaron Siskind, following Callahan, evoked this approach which I describe as popular ”Thus, rocks are sculpted forms; a section of common decorative ironwork, springing rhythmic shapes; fragments of paper sticking to a wall, a conversation piece. And these forms, totems, masks, figures, shapes, images must finally take their place in the tonal field of the picture and strictly conform to their space environment. [...] What is the subject matter of this apparently very personal world? It has been suggested that these shapes and images are underworld characters, the inhabitants of that vast common realm of memories that have gone down below the level of conscious control. It may be they are.” (Credo, 1950)
My project centers on revealing through my photographs these artistic fissures and lifting them high above the control of consciousness, to unveil that which is wonderful and harmonious living hidden in the folds of our material lives.
But of course, it is virtually impossible to think about photography without thinking about time. The printed image represents a brief, precise point on the continuum of time in which we live when we press the shutter; the unique property of photography is its ability to freeze time, to capture emotions in a singular decisive moment. As Roland Barthes wrote, photography “mechanically repeats what could never be repeated existentially”, where in essence he refers to “what was”.
My ambition is to extend the temporal field of photography into the future. To combine a sense of time relative to both the object being photographed (“what was”) and time experienced by the viewer (“what I see”), moving as one towards a new dimension: the “what will be”.
By photographing recurring artistic appearances that occur in my own daily life, in the sky, on a pavement, in a glass, I want to believe that I am simultaneously revealing those that emerge in the daily lives of the viewer. The question is less about a decisive moment as the “things” I photograph are by nature, by their very essence, immutable, common and repetitive. It is their appearances accumulated over time that transforms their image into a photographic project. It is the universality of their continued presence that I want to believe can transform an unextraordinary life moment into an artistic hope. “What was” – “What I see” – “What will be”.
We will all still see flocks of birds, subway passengers, stains on the walls. It is my hope, however, that the photographs presented to you here today change what you live tomorrow, in how you experience the continuum of images in your own lives; and urge you towards finding artistic emotion in a few of the cracks — and a renewed sense of wonder.
Re-enchanting the world through photography.
Francois Laxalt
EXHIBITIONS
2022
SENBAZURU // Solo Exhibition 36 pictures – 1 Senbazuru – Domus Reattu Gallery // Arles // July 2022
NORETURN & SENBAZURU // Exhibition at Munsingen Photo Festival // Switzerland // May 2022
SENBAZURU // Exhibition – Gallery Ibasho // Bookstore // Antwerp // April 2022
PRAYERS // Outdoors exhibition for the “Mois de la photo” // Paris // March 2022
SENBAZURU // Exhibition – Gallery XII // Paris // February-March 2022
2021
SENBAZURU // Finalist – HiP Photobook prize // November 2021
SENBAZURU & PRAYERS // Solo Exhibition – Domus Reattu Gallery// Arles // July 2021
2020
SENBAZURU // Solo Exhibition – Domus Reattu Gallery// Arles // July 2020
PRAYERS // Solo show at the UDM Gallery // Paris // Jan-Feb 2020
2019
SENBAZURU // Exhibition – Gallery “Le 4” // PhotoSaintGermain Paris// November 2019
PRAYERS // Publication in Open Eye Magazine // July 2019
2018
PRAYERS // L’Oeil de la Photographie // October 2018 // View photos in L’Oeil
2017
MYOPE & SENBAZURU // Maison Européenne de la Photo // Sylvie Hugues has presented my work part of the best 2017 projects // June 15th // MEP - Paris //
View the video published by MEP
2016
NoReturn // Press // Oct 2016 // Publication of my NoReturn Serie in « Musee Magazine #16 – Theme ‘Chaos’ »
LAUNDROMATES // Exhibition of my Laundromates serie in group exhibition ‘Passer le temps’ // Oct 19 – Nov 05 // Daguerre Gallery – Paris //
[Discover my Laundromates project – work in progress]
MYOPE // Presse // Sept 2016 //
PLATEFORM Magazine #91 – France // [see magazine] [ see photos in magazine]
PRAYERS // New Serie // July 2016 // Release of my work on Underground Prayers //
[See the photos]
Press // March 2016 // Photo published in Le Magazine du Monde (M) // [see magazine]
2015
OutsideIn // Group Exhibition // Sept 2 – Sept 16 // Daguerre Gallery – Paris //
[See a preview of my ‘OutsideIn’ project – work in progress]
Japan // Group Exhibition // June – July // Cube Rouge Gallery – Paris
MYOPE // Press // May 2015 // Published in l’Oeil de la Photographie // [see details]
2014
Japan // Group Exhibition // Nov 27 – Dec 12 // Carat France Gallery – Paris
Japan // Group Exhibition // Nov 3 – Nov 24 // Mois Photo Off – Paris
Senbazuru // Photo Festival // Sept 24 – Sept 28 // Paraty Em Foco Photo Festival – Brasil // [see details]
Senbazuru // Press // Sept 2014 // fotoMAGAZIN FineArt Annual EDITION - Germany
Senbazuru // Press // August 2014 // Huffington Post Article – US Edition // [see article]
Japan // Group Exhibition // June 2014 // Harada-No-Mori Gallery – Kobe – Japan
2012
MYOPE // Solo Exhibition // Nov 7 – Dec 8 //
Little Big Gallery – Paris – France
Senbazuru // Solo Exhibition // Oct 13 – Dec 8 //
Little Big Gallery – Paris – France
NoReturn // Solo Exhibition // Oct 13 – Nov 7 //
Little Big Gallery – Paris – France
MYOPE // Group Exhibition // Oct 12 – Nov 3 // PhotoCollection Festival #3
Iris Center for Photography Gallery – Paris – France // [see exhibition]
Senbazuru // Group Exhibition // June 9 – June 24 // MIPE Photo Festival (International Festival of Eclectic Photography).
MIPE - Dol de Bretagne – France
MYOPE // Press // May 2012//(Press) //
PLATEFORM Magazine #41 // [see magazine p76-97]
2011
Senbazuru // Group Exhibition // Nov 17 – Nov 20 // International Photo Festival of Montier-en-Der – France
KTNR // Group Exhibition // Oct 3 – Oct 24 // The KTNR project is still a work-in-progress. Get a preview from my Facebook Page!
Exhibition ‘Alternative Trends’ – Daguerre Gallery – Paris
Senbazuru // Solo Exhibition // Jul 22 – Jul 25 //
Fest’Afrik Festival – Tartas – France
Senbazuru // Group Exhibition // May 18 – June 4 // MIPE
Exhibition ‘Poils&Plumes’ – Hotel de Sauroy – Paris
NoReturn // Solo Exhibition // June 9 //
International Photo Fair – Bievres
2010
Memories // Press // April 2010 // Two pages about my MEMORIES project
French Photography magazine
Other // Award // March 2010 // One of my picture (‘Maman’) has been named ‘favorite B&W picture’
French Photography Association competition – Paris
Memories // Group Exhibition // Dec 5 – Dec19 //
Exhibition ‘La Photo Autrement’ – Daguerre Gallery – Paris
2009
Senbazuru // Award // May 2009 //
Named ‘winner’ and ‘favorite’ by the centre IRIS (CafeFoto)
Iris Center for Photography Gallery – Paris – France
2008
Blue // Group Exhibition // March 14 – March 27 //
‘5 Colors – 5 Photographers – 5 Feelings’ .
Bar “Les Souffleurs” – Paris
In the rhythm of our often overly repetitive, digital, daily lives, what space have we given to photography as a form of artistic expression? Has the medium truly been reduced to either Instagram selfies or conceptual photography?
I passionately believe that each of us experience visual moments in our daily lives, emotional shocks that change our perception of the world and of photographic art. “There’s a crack in everything, that’s how light gets in”. Absolutely. I believe in the cracks in the mask that is our daily experience. That there are spaces, moments that go unnoticed wherein light and beauty manifest, small culminations that can feel otherworldly, hidden yet somehow omnipresent.
The finite moment when this miracle happens allows us all to experience non-moments we live each day with the vibration of an emotion, the notion of artistic balance, a door opening to something wonderful. Freeing our perceptions of the world allows us to see the art that surrounds us, art that is accessible to all of us, popular art, art that precedes concepts, that touches the soul, that happens suddenly and without explanation.
In 1950, Aaron Siskind, following Callahan, evoked this approach which I describe as popular ”Thus, rocks are sculpted forms; a section of common decorative ironwork, springing rhythmic shapes; fragments of paper sticking to a wall, a conversation piece. And these forms, totems, masks, figures, shapes, images must finally take their place in the tonal field of the picture and strictly conform to their space environment. [...] What is the subject matter of this apparently very personal world? It has been suggested that these shapes and images are underworld characters, the inhabitants of that vast common realm of memories that have gone down below the level of conscious control. It may be they are.” (Credo, 1950)
My project centers on revealing through my photographs these artistic fissures and lifting them high above the control of consciousness, to unveil that which is wonderful and harmonious living hidden in the folds of our material lives.
But of course, it is virtually impossible to think about photography without thinking about time. The printed image represents a brief, precise point on the continuum of time in which we live when we press the shutter; the unique property of photography is its ability to freeze time, to capture emotions in a singular decisive moment. As Roland Barthes wrote, photography “mechanically repeats what could never be repeated existentially”, where in essence he refers to “what was”.
My ambition is to extend the temporal field of photography into the future. To combine a sense of time relative to both the object being photographed (“what was”) and time experienced by the viewer (“what I see”), moving as one towards a new dimension: the “what will be”.
By photographing recurring artistic appearances that occur in my own daily life, in the sky, on a pavement, in a glass, I want to believe that I am simultaneously revealing those that emerge in the daily lives of the viewer. The question is less about a decisive moment as the “things” I photograph are by nature, by their very essence, immutable, common and repetitive. It is their appearances accumulated over time that transforms their image into a photographic project. It is the universality of their continued presence that I want to believe can transform an unextraordinary life moment into an artistic hope. “What was” – “What I see” – “What will be”.
We will all still see flocks of birds, subway passengers, stains on the walls. It is my hope, however, that the photographs presented to you here today change what you live tomorrow, in how you experience the continuum of images in your own lives; and urge you towards finding artistic emotion in a few of the cracks — and a renewed sense of wonder.
Re-enchanting the world through photography.
Francois Laxalt
EXHIBITIONS
2022
SENBAZURU // Solo Exhibition 36 pictures – 1 Senbazuru – Domus Reattu Gallery // Arles // July 2022
NORETURN & SENBAZURU // Exhibition at Munsingen Photo Festival // Switzerland // May 2022
SENBAZURU // Exhibition – Gallery Ibasho // Bookstore // Antwerp // April 2022
PRAYERS // Outdoors exhibition for the “Mois de la photo” // Paris // March 2022
SENBAZURU // Exhibition – Gallery XII // Paris // February-March 2022
2021
SENBAZURU // Finalist – HiP Photobook prize // November 2021
SENBAZURU & PRAYERS // Solo Exhibition – Domus Reattu Gallery// Arles // July 2021
2020
SENBAZURU // Solo Exhibition – Domus Reattu Gallery// Arles // July 2020
PRAYERS // Solo show at the UDM Gallery // Paris // Jan-Feb 2020
2019
SENBAZURU // Exhibition – Gallery “Le 4” // PhotoSaintGermain Paris// November 2019
PRAYERS // Publication in Open Eye Magazine // July 2019
2018
PRAYERS // L’Oeil de la Photographie // October 2018 // View photos in L’Oeil
2017
MYOPE & SENBAZURU // Maison Européenne de la Photo // Sylvie Hugues has presented my work part of the best 2017 projects // June 15th // MEP - Paris //
View the video published by MEP
2016
NoReturn // Press // Oct 2016 // Publication of my NoReturn Serie in « Musee Magazine #16 – Theme ‘Chaos’ »
LAUNDROMATES // Exhibition of my Laundromates serie in group exhibition ‘Passer le temps’ // Oct 19 – Nov 05 // Daguerre Gallery – Paris //
[Discover my Laundromates project – work in progress]
MYOPE // Presse // Sept 2016 //
PLATEFORM Magazine #91 – France // [see magazine] [ see photos in magazine]
PRAYERS // New Serie // July 2016 // Release of my work on Underground Prayers //
[See the photos]
Press // March 2016 // Photo published in Le Magazine du Monde (M) // [see magazine]
2015
OutsideIn // Group Exhibition // Sept 2 – Sept 16 // Daguerre Gallery – Paris //
[See a preview of my ‘OutsideIn’ project – work in progress]
Japan // Group Exhibition // June – July // Cube Rouge Gallery – Paris
MYOPE // Press // May 2015 // Published in l’Oeil de la Photographie // [see details]
2014
Japan // Group Exhibition // Nov 27 – Dec 12 // Carat France Gallery – Paris
Japan // Group Exhibition // Nov 3 – Nov 24 // Mois Photo Off – Paris
Senbazuru // Photo Festival // Sept 24 – Sept 28 // Paraty Em Foco Photo Festival – Brasil // [see details]
Senbazuru // Press // Sept 2014 // fotoMAGAZIN FineArt Annual EDITION - Germany
Senbazuru // Press // August 2014 // Huffington Post Article – US Edition // [see article]
Japan // Group Exhibition // June 2014 // Harada-No-Mori Gallery – Kobe – Japan
2012
MYOPE // Solo Exhibition // Nov 7 – Dec 8 //
Little Big Gallery – Paris – France
Senbazuru // Solo Exhibition // Oct 13 – Dec 8 //
Little Big Gallery – Paris – France
NoReturn // Solo Exhibition // Oct 13 – Nov 7 //
Little Big Gallery – Paris – France
MYOPE // Group Exhibition // Oct 12 – Nov 3 // PhotoCollection Festival #3
Iris Center for Photography Gallery – Paris – France // [see exhibition]
Senbazuru // Group Exhibition // June 9 – June 24 // MIPE Photo Festival (International Festival of Eclectic Photography).
MIPE - Dol de Bretagne – France
MYOPE // Press // May 2012//(Press) //
PLATEFORM Magazine #41 // [see magazine p76-97]
2011
Senbazuru // Group Exhibition // Nov 17 – Nov 20 // International Photo Festival of Montier-en-Der – France
KTNR // Group Exhibition // Oct 3 – Oct 24 // The KTNR project is still a work-in-progress. Get a preview from my Facebook Page!
Exhibition ‘Alternative Trends’ – Daguerre Gallery – Paris
Senbazuru // Solo Exhibition // Jul 22 – Jul 25 //
Fest’Afrik Festival – Tartas – France
Senbazuru // Group Exhibition // May 18 – June 4 // MIPE
Exhibition ‘Poils&Plumes’ – Hotel de Sauroy – Paris
NoReturn // Solo Exhibition // June 9 //
International Photo Fair – Bievres
2010
Memories // Press // April 2010 // Two pages about my MEMORIES project
French Photography magazine
Other // Award // March 2010 // One of my picture (‘Maman’) has been named ‘favorite B&W picture’
French Photography Association competition – Paris
Memories // Group Exhibition // Dec 5 – Dec19 //
Exhibition ‘La Photo Autrement’ – Daguerre Gallery – Paris
2009
Senbazuru // Award // May 2009 //
Named ‘winner’ and ‘favorite’ by the centre IRIS (CafeFoto)
Iris Center for Photography Gallery – Paris – France
2008
Blue // Group Exhibition // March 14 – March 27 //
‘5 Colors – 5 Photographers – 5 Feelings’ .
Bar “Les Souffleurs” – Paris