PRAYERS
In the subway, I can hear their underground prayers. I met those souls, I felt their torments.
Their hands, like haikus, speak about distress, love, loneliness, determination, fear ou friendship.
In the subway, I met them; they told me thousand stories. I share them with you today.
"Autumn evening
there is a joy too
In solitude "
Yosa Buson (1716-1783)
"The best prayer is the most clandestine."
Edmond Rostand
Il n'y a rien
Dans mes poches
Rien que mes mains.
SumitakuKenshin-1961-1987
The photographs from the Prayers project are available in different formats.
- Individual Prayers: single images in 40x40cm
- Collective Prayers: artwork made with multiple Prayers images. Each image is unique and numbered 1/1. Three sizes available by default but you can request for your custom image (#photos & size).
Prayers prints
Format: 40x40 cm // 15,75 x 15,75 in
Prints: Pigment prints on Baryta Fine Art paper – UV protected
Edition: 10 + 1AP
Printed, signed, dated and numbered by the artist.
Collective Prayers prints
Format: by default, 60x60 cm, 60x80 and 165 x 110. Other sizes upon request.
Type: Black&White Silver Gelatin prints toned with black Japanese tea
Edition: 3 + 1AP
Silver Gelatin prints made by Picto under supervision of the artist, prints toned, dated, signed and numbered by the artist.
See below some of the artworks for Collective Prayers.
Title "Energie"
40 Prayers / 60x80 cm
Title "Strength"
9 Prayers / 60x60 cm
Title "Unité"
40 Prayers / 165x110 cm
STATEMENT
In various contexts and cultures, prayer takes on multiple forms, yet it remains primarily a reflection upon oneself, a meditation aimed at seeking a different, undoubtedly better, physical or mental state. Far beyond its collective and often spectacular form, what captivates me about the notion of prayer is this surrender of oneself, this relaxation of the body, the joining of hands, the intimacy between oneself and oneself, this retreat of the mind into an inner world.
In our modern, hyper-connected world, in perpetual motion, where, when, and how can one find the time and mindset for such a deeply personal prayer? As a photographer of the everyday, seeking the artistic spark within the cracks of "normal" life, it was in an unexpected place that the aesthetic impact occurred. The subway.
Surprising? Astonishing? For those living in cities equipped with "metros," the idea that one could find refuge for prayer in these overcrowded, sometimes stressful places will be shocking. For photographers, the memory of Michael Wolf's project "Tokyo Compression," showing passengers compressed against the doors of the Tokyo subway, will add to the skepticism: "They live like sardines. It was like watching a passage from hell," he commented.
What irony to be so close to one's fellow beings and yet so alone. Pointless. But with a detached, serene, perhaps artistic gaze, it is nonetheless possible to perceive the relaxation that grips travelers when, enclosed, stuck, their only outlet is waiting and turning inward. "Patience is the greatest of prayers," the Buddha tells us. Prayer as a means of escaping the underground hell?
In the subway, the body in a limp position, the scope of action reduced to nothingness, the mind wanders, the hands join: intimate prayer is revealed. Through these hands, often more talkative than the travelers to whom they belong, I have encountered these souls, I have glimpsed their torment. These hands are young, manicured, withered, adorned, active, determined, or pensive. Like fragile haikus, they speak of distress, love, loneliness, determination, anguish, or friendship. In the subway, I have met them, they have told me a thousand stories. They belong to the past, the time of photography. They belong to the present because I share them with you. They belong to the future too, what stories will they tell you?