Format Pola

Exhibition

Photography

Format Pola

Past: November 24, 2012 → January 12, 2013

Philippe Guionie, Swimming in the Black Sea & Délestage

In Swimming in the Black Sea, Philippe Guionie follows in the footsteps of Kébaran, the stubborn character in Jules Vernes’ eponymous novel. During eight years (2004-2012), Guionie explored Kébaran’s fictional traces on the shore of the Black Sea.

Délestage, produced in 2011 and 2012, constitutes a diary from his travel in N’Djamena’s streets. These black and white photographs translate the dusty atmosphere filled with white shadows of the Chadian capital that regularly suffers from electrical ”délestages”, i.e power outages .

Philippe Guionie, a trained historian, born in 1972, centers his photographic work on the themes of identity and memory, especially in Africa. For over ten years, he travelled and photographed sub-Saharan Africa. He focused his work on how identities are constructed (Le tirailleur et les trois fleuves, 2008). He then continued this inquiry in Latin America where he questioned another ”Africa”, one that was born out of Spanish slavery. The photographer introduces two series of polaroids, which are poetic images of his journeys, entitled Swimming in the Black Sea and Délestage.

Sara Imloul, Négatifs

After the series Le Cirque noir (2008-2011), Sara Imloul, born in 1986, produced ”Négatifs”. With this work she continues her quest of the original intentions of photography and the artist. Sara Imloul exposes the paper directly in her film camera. This process creates unique small format prints.

The artist’s work stands between portraits, still lives, circus faeries and abstractive shapes. These ”Négatifs” have a disconcerting similarity with drawing and engraving. They tell us the story of the light print.

Donata Wenders, In the Snow

Donata Wenders worked in the movie industry for a long time before she started displaying her talent for photography. Known for her work in black and white, the Berlin photographer is inspired by Henri-Cartier Bresson, Alfred Stieglitz and more recently, Peter Lindbergh. Donata Wenders’ photographs use lighting and shadows effects and reflections. She enjoys working with the atmosphere and the light of the moment without following any rules or pre-established directions.

After shooting famous artists such as Pina Bausch or Yohji Yamamoto, Donata Wenders produced a subtle series of photographs entitled In the Snow : a black figure wearing a long coat rises from an immaculate landscape.

She seems to be prisoner of this tiny space…

Polka Galerie Gallery
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03 Le Marais Zoom in 03 Le Marais Zoom out

12, rue Saint Gilles

75003 Paris

T. +33 (0)1 76 21 41 30 — F. +33 (0)1 76 50 21 83

www.polkagalerie.com

Chemin Vert

Opening hours

Tuesday – Saturday, 11 AM – 7:30 PM
Other times by appointment

The artists

  • Philippe Guionie
  • Sara Imloul
  • Donata Wenders