Paradoxically enough, it is the confinement that allowed Jean-Charles Ouvrard to disseminate its work beyond borders. Passionate since the age of 13, photographer and author since 2010, the 49-year-old Vesulian saw one of his photos “propelled” to the other side of the Atlantic, thanks to his contribution to an art gallery digital…
From December 13 to 18, one of the signed photos of the Vésulien, showing a stilt – an aquatic bird – with its beak immersed in the water, and taken in the summer of 2020 at the pond of Leucate, between Narbonne and Perpignan, was exhibited in New York, on a huge 9×6 meter billboard, among 791 other works.
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A huge collective work, like a patchwork, exhibited in the heart of Manhattan, as part of the project ExpoMetro.
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The object of such an exhibition, born from the concept of the Franco-Dutch, Rudolph van Valkenburg: to allow art to meet the public by “occupying” the daily landscape of the crowd, in a way. ExpoMetro notably invested London in 2019 then Berlin in 2020 or even Monaco in the summer of 2021 and, each time, Jean-Charles Ouvrard was part of and was even able to sell a print of a photo through this.
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Digital, for lack of festival
It is by integrating, during confinement, the digital art gallery ArtQuid, also founded by Rudolph van Valkenburg, that the Haut-Saônois was able to participate in such an operation. “The pandemic has stopped a lot of things, especially in the area of photography festivals, there was not much going on,” says the photographer, who, at the start, was only looking to share his work, without expecting to such an exhibition. “I pay for a location on this exhibition, and offer a photo. “
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Lightness
For the New York exhibition, Jean-Charles Ouvrard opted for a photograph taken from a series full of poetry “Karu Sa” – lightness in Japanese – dedicated to birds. Pictures that look like a drawing. “This is precisely the desired effect: I use a very neutral background – a blue sky, water, snow etc. – I overexpose, hide, and wait for the animal to appear in the frame. These are hides that can sometimes last several hours, when I have the chance to do something. ”An effect that seduced since this same stilt was selected by the finalists of the Tokyo international festival, the TIFA.
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Challenge by the photo
“It’s a great recognition, as much as an opportunity for the future”, recognizes the Haut-Saônois who started photography by chance, at the age of 13, when he receives a Polaroid. “I ate the ball in a quarter of an hour …” And he never stopped, always walking around with a case in his pocket. “What I like about photography is the opportunity it offers to share something, to challenge. “His participation in these giant exhibitions should thus help the photographer in his future project: to exhibit his work in gourmet restaurants, or hotels, in order to reach an audience other than that of photo festivals. Always guided by this desire to share and exchange.
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