Laurent Chehere: Flying Houses
We are thrilled to announce that renowned French photographer Laurent Ch茅h猫re has joined Bau-Xi Gallery. Ch茅h猫re employs traditional photography and digital techniques to elevate architectural photography to a new level in his acclaimed Flying Houses series which will be exhibited at the gallery鈥檚 Toronto flagship location, 1384 Dufferin Street, this November.
Inspired by films such as Hayao Miyazaki鈥檚 Howl's Moving Castle and Albert Lamorisse鈥檚 The Red Balloon, Laurent Chehere鈥檚 Flying Houses series seeks to show the hidden beauty of the everyday. By using the cosmopolitan neighbourhoods of Paris as creative devices, Chehere isolates buildings from the urban context and releases them from the anonymity of the street to tell the life, dreams and hopes of their inhabitants. The artist resurrects buildings from the past, trying to rediscover the taste of childhood and innocence. These photomontages assembled like puzzles allow the curious observer to discover hidden details. From a distance these fragile homes appear carefree and dreamy, while up close, the story becomes more complex. The artist uses this distance to offer different points of view and warn against preconceived ideas. Influenced by the pioneering French photographers, Robert Doisneau and Eug猫ne Atget, Chehere sees the resulting images as opportunities to tell stories of freedom, escape, drama, romanticism 鈥� or fantasy 鈥� while being firmly rooted in reality. Ch茅h猫re gives us some clues, yet these Flying Houses remain open to everyone鈥檚 interpretation and imagination.
鈥淭he first 'Flying Houses' were photographed by chance in the street and the photomontage was rudimentary of about ten elements. My method has evolved into a gigantic puzzle, I photograph a facade in several pieces to have a sharp rendering. My latest works use hundreds of photos, sometimes containing 1500 layers.
I start by drawing a shape, then, I either photograph or search in my very rich image bank for bits of facades, roofs, gutters, dirt, graffiti, chimneys, windows, window panes, window reflections, frost, statues, typography, rust, drips, shadows, antennas, satellite dishes, snow, traces of time. For the interiors, I build them like a filmmaker, or a theater set designer. I feed on books and other websites on the subject, such as curtains, tapestries, lights, furniture, and toys. The well-known characters are found on the internet, often the images being low resolution, I am forced to photograph a model and reconstruct their face to bring the character back to life. My works are never finished, I can add scenes years later鈥� like a building that changes owners. I am not trying to go fast, my process requires time, the time to explore all possible ideas."
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We are thrilled to announce that renowned French photographer Laurent Ch茅h猫re has joined Bau-Xi Gallery. Ch茅h猫re employs traditional photography and digital techniques to elevate architectural photography to a new level in his acclaimed Flying Houses series which will be exhibited at the gallery鈥檚 Toronto flagship location, 1384 Dufferin Street, this November.
Inspired by films such as Hayao Miyazaki鈥檚 Howl's Moving Castle and Albert Lamorisse鈥檚 The Red Balloon, Laurent Chehere鈥檚 Flying Houses series seeks to show the hidden beauty of the everyday. By using the cosmopolitan neighbourhoods of Paris as creative devices, Chehere isolates buildings from the urban context and releases them from the anonymity of the street to tell the life, dreams and hopes of their inhabitants. The artist resurrects buildings from the past, trying to rediscover the taste of childhood and innocence. These photomontages assembled like puzzles allow the curious observer to discover hidden details. From a distance these fragile homes appear carefree and dreamy, while up close, the story becomes more complex. The artist uses this distance to offer different points of view and warn against preconceived ideas. Influenced by the pioneering French photographers, Robert Doisneau and Eug猫ne Atget, Chehere sees the resulting images as opportunities to tell stories of freedom, escape, drama, romanticism 鈥� or fantasy 鈥� while being firmly rooted in reality. Ch茅h猫re gives us some clues, yet these Flying Houses remain open to everyone鈥檚 interpretation and imagination.
鈥淭he first 'Flying Houses' were photographed by chance in the street and the photomontage was rudimentary of about ten elements. My method has evolved into a gigantic puzzle, I photograph a facade in several pieces to have a sharp rendering. My latest works use hundreds of photos, sometimes containing 1500 layers.
I start by drawing a shape, then, I either photograph or search in my very rich image bank for bits of facades, roofs, gutters, dirt, graffiti, chimneys, windows, window panes, window reflections, frost, statues, typography, rust, drips, shadows, antennas, satellite dishes, snow, traces of time. For the interiors, I build them like a filmmaker, or a theater set designer. I feed on books and other websites on the subject, such as curtains, tapestries, lights, furniture, and toys. The well-known characters are found on the internet, often the images being low resolution, I am forced to photograph a model and reconstruct their face to bring the character back to life. My works are never finished, I can add scenes years later鈥� like a building that changes owners. I am not trying to go fast, my process requires time, the time to explore all possible ideas."
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