Far from any concerns about the history of architecture, without intending to be representative of all the buildings constructed over the past thirty years in the Alpes-Maritimes, the eye of Serge Demailly has captured constructions often integrated into sites of incredible beauty. From June 24 to September 30, 2011, at the Urban Planning and Architecture Forum.
“Contemporary Art and the Côte d’Azur
A Territory for Experimentation, 1951-2011”
This exhibition is part of the event “Contemporary Art and the Côte d’Azur – A Territory for Experimentation, 1951-2011”.
Well-known in journalism and publishing circles, Serge Demailly has covered almost everything that counts in terms of architecture in France and Europe.
He often explains that an architectural photographer must disappear behind their work. In his case, it would be more accurate to say that he reveals the deepest aspects.
At a time when the city of Nice and Nice Côte d’Azur are involved in numerous large-scale projects for territorial development, architectural quality is at the heart of this approach, as it is in sometimes lesser-known contemporary constructions in the Riviera.
It is in this context that the Urban Planning and Architecture Forum of the City of Nice is organizing an exhibition on “Riviera Contemporary Architecture” from the perspective of photographer Serge Demailly.
Far from any concerns about the history of architecture, without attempting to be representative of all the buildings constructed over the past thirty years in the Alpes-Maritimes, the photographer’s eye has captured constructions often integrated into sites of incredible beauty.
From the exhibition…
If the remarkable multiplication of forms today practically prohibits identifying architecture with a specific place, region, or country, the climate of the Côte, its lush flora, the slope, the light, the sky, the horizon, and the sea, as well as its cultures accumulated over centuries, provide endless stimulation for architects’ creativity.
A prod, an invitation to rediscover what everyone naturally knew yesterday: the taste for site, economical means, knowledge of the winds, the sun’s path, proper exposure, respect for the inhabitant, daily life, and even more for the landscape, whose beauty demands remarkable efforts to build in harmony.
Several photographs in this exhibition, even if not their object, show how every project is a great body where each part matters. A vibrant call to all building stakeholders to get involved in the quality of the execution, without which the best project falters.
Most of the buildings displayed through the lens were designed by architects who were still very young in the 1980s-90s and had to fight to win commissions, the outcome of which depends on the joint commitment of politicians, financiers, companies, project managers, and their ability to seek and desire the best, pay attention to the best practices across Europe and beyond, and implement ambitious urban strategies serving humanity. Implicitly, there are essential lessons of courage both in the short and long terms when it comes to building characterful architecture and cities.
…and of the photographer
Well-known in journalism and publishing circles, Serge Demailly has covered almost everything that counts in terms of architecture in France and Europe.
His photos are published worldwide.
His work as a photographer presents notable peculiarities. Nothing is more delicate than capturing architecture. The reflex everyone knows is to take a beautiful photo.
For oneself, content and proud of an angle, a shape, a light. An attitude poles apart from Serge Demailly’s approach.
His first move is to understand, to make others better understand. Every photograph is a projection of oneself.
And sometimes the welcome of the other. Serge Demailly’s is profound, occurring in a solitary face-to-face with the building. He indeed likes this solitude, to better discover, observe, immerse himself. Architecture is there, concrete, unable to lie.
Part of Serge Demailly’s art lies in this just gaze, this ability to show reality, without veils or excess and even less gimmicks.
Far from staging architecture in exceptional situations like harsh light, storms or sunsets, stark shadows he finds disastrous for volume interpretation. Never any supplementary artificial lighting.
No, he prefers restraint, calm photos, almost soft, as close as possible to reality, serving the architecture without betraying it and without betrayal.
This approach, which requires much humility, is almost natural to him.
And it is doubtless this humility that brings forth the acuity of his work, its subtlety, its presence, its ability to reveal what sometimes no one has seen, not even the architect.
Serge Demailly often explains that an architectural photographer must disappear behind their work. In his case, it would be more accurate to say that he reveals the deepest aspects.
That’s also why he works with large format cameras or shift lenses for digital.
To come as close as possible to the perception of the eye and brain, to be the most faithful to the subject.
Architecture enthusiasts, photography lovers, Riviera residents, and visitors will enjoy getting to know or rediscover these constructions, recognizing a work, feeling an accurate eye through this exhibition.
