Ghost towns, evanescent landscapes, budding shadows, a few of the fascinating elements comprising the world of Stéphane C. His photographs, taken in a sublime black and white, haunt in their ability to capture the inherent mystery of each moment. They are charged with darkness, density, radiance and luminosity all at once.
A photographer of substance, Stéphane C. seems to search for light in the darkest hours of the night. Whether his subjects appear from thin air or disappear before the viewer’s eye is all a matter of perspective. Communicating through violent contrasts of coal black and electric white, blurred image, and long pause, his photographs reveal the sensitivity and sincerity of their author.
Wise for his 32 years, Stéphane C. left his native Lyon to live in Paris after having studied photography in Madrid. It was there that he participated in a workshop given by the American photographer Michael Ackerman, with whom he shares a similar aesthetic vision.
While one could not define his art as conceptual, Stéphane C. does remind us of the best in Japanese photography with his uncompromising vision similar to that of Daido Moriyama, Takuma Nakahira or Takehiko Nakafuji. We could even go so far as to compare his work to Antoine d’Agata. However, contrary to these artists’ methods, Stéphane C. photos stand alone rather than presenting particular moments in a series of images.
His photos are most often collected from various trips or artistic pilgrimages, yet his singular vision often leaves the public pondering the mysterious surroundings inhabited by his subjects in each carefully sculpted image.
His work, most often in slideshow format, has been shown in France (Paris, Toulouse), and abroad (Genoa, Italy; Montréal, Canada). A strange and magically troubling universe.
By Julien Voinot
Translation: Alicia Austin
