2023-07-01 14:15:00
Where others like to saturate their images to give them more strength, Jeffrey Conley favors black and white. “It focuses attention on light, shapes, textures, details. I also do meditation and see my photographs as an extension of those meditative moments. I don’t have a distinct idea of what I’m wanna grab. I just let things happen in front of me”explained to us the American who has been living in Oregon for almost twenty years, in the very west of the country.
For the first time in France, and more precisely at the Musée de la photographie Charles-Nègre, in Nice, a solo exhibition is dedicated to him. In 52 images, the one who grew up in the Hudson Valley, two hours from New York, delivers a very personal vision of nature.
“The work you see is a reflection of the person I am. I love being in nature, it’s where I feel the most peace, serenity. There is loneliness too. It’s a place of therapy. All this might seem obvious, but we tend to forget it. What I want is that my photographs can convey the wonder and the respect that I feel for the natural world.”
The meeting of the 19th and 21st centuries
Observing the pictures of this discreet man, who dedicated this hanging to his father, who died a few months ago, we are disoriented. Sometimes a human presence or a majestic shrub gives a sense of scale. Otherwise, you have to let your imagination run wild. “I like to photograph landscapes in a direct way, without showing off, by removing the elements of context, to bring a form of abstraction. You can believe that you are seeing something very small, when it is the opposite. “, poursuit Jeffrey Conley.
In a video projected in a room of the Museum of Photography, the technical aspect of Conley’s work, which is in line with the American master of landscape photography Ansel Adams, is approached.
And contrary to what one might think, it’s not just regarding delighting purists. But rather to complete the portrait of the artist, emphasizing his love of the long term. “My photographs are taken in a darkroom using the platinum process, a 19th century hand-engraving technique that is akin to alchemy”he explains.
Between old methods, analogue requirements and digital flexibility, our man knows how to vary the pleasures. “I see myself as a photographer, but also as a shooter. For the prints, there is a real work of observation. Most of my time is devoted to this activity. Everything takes shape in a physical space, and that’s where you can give another soul to the images.”
> “Ode to nature” by Jeffrey Conley. Until September 24. Museum of photography, in Nice. Price: 5 euros, free for residents of the Metropolis. Info. museephotographie.nice.fr
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