Yohann Gozard

Through photography, Yohann Gozard explores the limits of the visible, much like an archaeologist would unearth the strata of history. He pushes back the limits of photography in order to reach the edges of what the eye perceives, to reveal something of an erased memory in landscapes that did not at first glance seem destined for contemplation. His work follows a two-step process. First, going against the principle of the “decisive moment”, Gozard often uses long exposure. He likes to be there when the image is being made, which sometimes uncovers grey areas, injects light in, as he allows himself to steep in the spirit of a place as much as the place captures and absorbs him. He moves about within the framed space, feet on the ground, loyal to a human point of view, shrouded in darkness, solitude and silence. The second step consists in a precise retouching process on screen. Landscapes are seen as matter that can be shaped to increase their believability. “The images that seem the most genuine are often the most retouched”, he says. Gozard feeds a constant relation to art history into his photographs. He initiates a form of contemporary romanticism that prompts us to experience spending time in these unlikely places, which our lifestyles and consumption habits have turned into deserted, forgotten or transitory areas, but in which we must nonetheless find our place.

Martine Michard

Translated by Lucy Pons, 2024