On the occasion of the exhibition « The road in all its states », the photographer Isabelle Girollet makes us discovers her vision of the road and gives us her opinion on the selected photographs.
Camille Delcour: The road is a place where we pass uncountable hours. As an artist, Isabelle, what does the word “road” call you to mind?
Isbabelle Girollet: The road represents life. An exuberant activity concentrates on it… It is endless, it can be a road, a path, a passage, a footpath, we use it… It leads us from one point to another, crossing a variety of landscapes, of atmospheres, each with its own signage. The road is a place of exchange, of sharing between individuals of different nationalities, all generations taken together, with multiple interests…
What was the « triggering factor » of this series of photographs on the theme of « The Road »?
Its graphics, articulated by lines, curves. As well as all the devices human implants on it and personalize it. For me, it symbolizes the liberty to go… at the turning of a path… A curiosity… An encounter… An exaltation… An emotion… But it can also be a deception, a reality…
How to use it in abstract photography?
By retrieving the elements that constitute it. Through the signage, the buildings, the light structures, the colors, everything has its importance to build equilibrium, an uncluttered construction, by its forms that make it an abstract fragment unique and which personalize it.
Can you give us an anecdote about the moment of the shooting of one of your works?
In Lisbon, in the « Export » district, while I was photographing « Parallel », I was lying on the ground to retrieve the lines that seduced me, a man came to lie next to me to understand the meaning of my photo… I presented him my framing through the eyepiece, he then smiled, surprised by the interest I gave to lines but happy to understand…
How did you choose the photographs for this exhibition?
Three photographs large format of 80X120 will be presented, all vertical. This is the result of an earlier work, at the beginning of my evolution towards abstraction. Each symbolizes the road on a roundabout way. No trace of road and yet they are an integral part of the road…
Thank you Isabelle
