honorable mention
EMMANUEL CASTELLA france
title
IPSEITY
These hundreds of statues untiringly transformed season after season reminded me the passage of generations. In contrast to the caterpillar, which experiments a real renaissance by being transformed to become a butterfly, we humans are, up to now, prisoners of a process of eternal renewal.
The covered body has long been a tradition in the artistic process and many artists such as Giuseppe Sanmartino, René Magritte, Joseph Beuys or Francesca Woodman to name but a few, took an interest in it.
What fascinated me in these « seasonal » artifacts that see the disappearance of statues under a veil, from whence echo of a human figure can be lost to abstraction, is the persistence of a singularity.
To me, none of these "envelopes" is similar to another and I see them radiating with an unspeakable presence.
I decided that this would be the topic that I will develop. My work questions notions of identity and otherness, appearance and beauty as well as imaginary and social conditioning. But what interests me more than anything, it’s what makes that something or someone is unique and absolutely distinct from another, in other words what define the quality of being oneself or itself.
His series The Fall Into Time was awarded with the Fine Art 1st place of the 2011 ExhibitA International photo competition.
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entry description
When winter is coming in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, marble statues are « covered » to be protected from harsh weather by sheeting fabrics.These hundreds of statues untiringly transformed season after season reminded me the passage of generations. In contrast to the caterpillar, which experiments a real renaissance by being transformed to become a butterfly, we humans are, up to now, prisoners of a process of eternal renewal.
The covered body has long been a tradition in the artistic process and many artists such as Giuseppe Sanmartino, René Magritte, Joseph Beuys or Francesca Woodman to name but a few, took an interest in it.
What fascinated me in these « seasonal » artifacts that see the disappearance of statues under a veil, from whence echo of a human figure can be lost to abstraction, is the persistence of a singularity.
To me, none of these "envelopes" is similar to another and I see them radiating with an unspeakable presence.
I decided that this would be the topic that I will develop. My work questions notions of identity and otherness, appearance and beauty as well as imaginary and social conditioning. But what interests me more than anything, it’s what makes that something or someone is unique and absolutely distinct from another, in other words what define the quality of being oneself or itself.
about the photographer
Former jewelry designer in Paris and Singapore French born Photographer Emmanuel Castella has worked as an editorial and advertising photographer for numerous magazine and brands since 2004. In recent years, the photographer has developed a more personal work, focussing primarily on exploring the elusive. In this sense, what matters most to him isn't what his photographs show but what they conceal.His series The Fall Into Time was awarded with the Fine Art 1st place of the 2011 ExhibitA International photo competition.
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