16 September – 11 December 2017
Stephane Noël
St├®phane is a contemporary photographer whose works have propelled him to the forefront of the scene of photography.
St├®phane is mentioned by connoisseurs in the same breath as famous photographers as Sebasti├úo Salgado, Joseph Koudelka, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Andre╠ü Kert├®sz.
After his works have been exhibited in Budapest, Arles, Milan, London, Paris, Warsaw, Holland, Spain and Germany, his international breakthrough was a fact. The leading Dutch magazine ÔÇ£fotografieÔÇØ praised his work in a 10-page article.
His artworks are now booming and becoming a huge investment for contemporary art collectors because they expect prices will rocket.
Meanwhile, key players in the photography market & museums worldwide are discovering him and they are lining up to organize expositions with St├®phane.
The famous curator in the scene of photography, Veronica Besnier, picked up on St├®phane Noel. Fascinated by his work, she is now negotiating shows for him in Latin America.
The curator already organized exhibitions with the world’s most famous photographers, worked together with the Magnum Agency, the Cartier Bresson Foundation and the french editor Xavier Barral.
On Veronica’s curriculum we find -amongst others- great exhibitions with Robert Doisneau, Elliot Erwitt, Robert Frank, Robert Capa, Andre╠ü Kert├®sz and Sebasti├úo Salgado. Works of these artists have been auctioned for up to $100,000.
On the schedule of St├®phane Noel are new exhibitions at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Santiago de Chile, in Budapest, Berlin, Warsaw and others.
St├®phane No├½l has always needed to discover and understand the others to make sense in his life, to explore the human being and to find answers about himself as well. Photography gives him the entrance to the unknown, like a passport that opens doors.
Constantly searching for a kind of truth, he spends a long time listening, observing, learning, feeling unconsciously it appears that most of his projects are about the end of something: the world, the life, professions, ethnicities, relations and then another question comes, whats next?
To be able to express himself till the last step of his approach, he chooses an ancient way of printing known from the middle of the 19th century, called gum bichromate. This multi-layer traditional hand-crafted technique gives him the possibility to make his own interpretation of each of his prints, which makes each of them unique.
Sa d├®marche artistique
Ses projets se d├®roulent, en g├®n├®ral, en trois ├®tapes :
En premier, il y a la rencontre, il passe beaucoup de temps ├á ├®couter, partager, expliquer sa pr├®sence. LÔÇÖappareil photo nÔÇÖest alors quÔÇÖune sorte de passeport, de visa, de pr├®texte pour aller ├á la rencontre de lÔÇÖautre. Pour lui, cÔÇÖest un peu comme une th├®rapie personnelle pour apprendre dÔÇÖautres cultures, dÔÇÖautres vies et probablement aussi pour mieux se comprendre lui-m├¬me. Lors dÔÇÖun premier voyage, il ne fait pas ou tr├¿s peu de photos. Une vraie relation de confiance et de respect de part et dÔÇÖautre doit sÔÇÖinstaller petit ├á petit.
Dans un second temps, vient la prise de vue. Etant donn├® la relation instaur├®e pr├®alablement, il re├ºoit en g├®n├®ral beaucoup. Ayant travaill├® longtemps au moyen format argentique, il a gard├® lÔÇÖhabitude de ne pas ÔÇÿmitraillerÔÇÖ. Il fait tr├¿s peu de photos, il est plus ├á la recherche de lÔÇÖ├®motion, dÔÇÖun partage honn├¬te et sinc├¿re, dÔÇÖune v├®rit├® quÔÇÖil obtient plus par le dialogue, lÔÇÖ├®change de regard, lÔÇÖouverture et le respect quand ÔÇÿshootantÔÇÖ en rafale cach├® derri├¿re son boitier. Il a constat├® avec le temps, que ├ºa met souvent mal ├á lÔÇÖaise et emp├¬che les gens de se livrer. Les gens jouent plus un r├┤le et ne sont plus eux m├¬mes. Pour les m├¬mes raisons, il voyage tr├¿s souvent seul, sans ├®quipe, assistant ou mat├®riel ÔÇÿspectaculaireÔÇÖ. Il veut aller au-del├á de la perfection technique, il veut lÔÇÖ├®motion, estimant que chaque ├¬tre est unique, avec les traces de son propre v├®cu, son ├óme et son c┼ôur.
Enfin, troisi├¿mement, le tirageÔǪ Dans la plupart des cas, il tire ses photos ├á la gomme bichromat├®e (technique dÔÇÖimpression par contact en plusieurs couches, proc├®d├® pigmentaire datant du milieu du 19├¿me si├¿cle) quÔÇÖil a un peu adapt├®e par rapport ├á ses besoins. Mis ├á part les qualit├®s de stabilit├® incomparable de ce proc├®d├® et le caract├¿re unique de chaque tirage (impossible ├á reproduire ├á lÔÇÖidentique), il a fait ce choix car il aime prendre le temps dÔÇÖaller au bout des choses. Dans son cas, il peut travailler jusquÔÇÖ├á une dizaine de jours pour r├®aliser un tirage. Par amour pour les mati├¿res, le toucher, cette m├®thode artisanale lui permet de r├®ellement interpr├®ter les tirages suivant les ├®motions et les sensations ressenties. CÔÇÖest le meilleur moyen quÔÇÖil ait trouv├® pour pouvoir sÔÇÖexprimer.
