Analogue contrasts: the art of Jean Paul Bourdier
Jean Paul Bourdier, with his use of analogue photography, appears to be among contemporary photographers one of the most interested in playing with colours and shapes of reality. The colour balance is not digitally manipulated and the strong tones naturally stand out from the landscape. Protagonist of the photographic collection “Bodyscape” is the human body which with its lines blends and is disguised in the surrounding environment.
The landscapes chosen for the shots almost resemble a lunar panorama, they appear uninhabited and distant from the mass of humanity which stops the dialogue between the inner self and the world. From the desert of Arizona to the Pyramids in Egypt, corners of the world look as if they are uncontaminated and ideal locations that bring to life a new artistic dialogue. You and I is one of his most fascinating works and offers a double perspective on the female body, enhancing its delicate traits through the use of shades of lilac. Twice of one self instead highlights the contrast between nature and the body of a girl which graciously lies down immersed in the unreal white. The colour tones of the body become a metaphor of pain and passion while the arm, reaching for the sky, disturbs the linearity of the landscape while at the same time looking for an unknown infinity. What’s left is the essential connection with water, source of life, where she finds a narcissistic relief.
Water is also the theme in Couple Mirage, two silver bodies, a man and a woman, unite and at the same time they blend and merge with the precious blue liquid which serves as a prudish censor of their union but at the same time gives privacy to their intimate passion. The colours have a preponderant role, the silver of the bodies reflects in the water, the red of their hair instead interrupts the homogeneity of the scene and the dominant blue of the environment, their eyes locked into each other close the circle of contrasts and sinuosity both tangible and conceivable. “The photographs – Bourdier says – point to our inner freedom, to the humour hidden behind our life predicaments, to our capacity to embrace the unknown, or the unity between our Mind and Body and between ourselves and the environment”.
The contrast of the colours as a spiritual and physical union between the bodies and the space surrounding them. In the pictures the horizon is projected towards the undefined infinity avoiding the perception of any set time or space, while the bodies show a complex attitude and a multifaceted personality and they appear as if they want to try, almost subconsciously, to distance and shelter themselves from their destiny. They don’t necessarily represent a fall but a new renaissance of humanity which is expressed through the use of colours and shapes.
And this represents the chance to put into effect the human willpower which inevitably tends towards repetitiveness in a temporal loop which is a portrayal of everyday life. The French photographer continues travelling the world in constant search for the perfect stage for his works, so that the “bodyscape” project is always ongoing.
Martha Pulina
