From November 20, 2009 until January 8, 2010, the Acte2 Gallery offers us a double exhibition of the photographer Alvin Booth, first exhibition to discover with your eyes closed.
Alvin Booth, an English photographer, was initially destined to be a hairdresser. But very quickly, his interest in photography grew and he left for New York, abandoning hairdressing and learning the essence of his art. This very meticulous photographer really puts his own style into each of his photos, making his own prints.
After having proposed two years ago these studies on the body “Corpus” and “Omnosis”, the photographer wished to explore the question of the glance posed on the photograph with “Finger Prints” but also with “Anamorphosis”.
“Finger Prints” explores the question of the links between photography and reality. In our culture saturated with images, the eye ends up not seeing anymore. Alvin Booth, delivers here a photographic work “to touch with the fingertips, comparable to Braille”. The sight often gives envy to the other senses, particularly to the one of the touch and manages to recompose a reality highlighted by these two informations. In order to better understand this intention, Booth invites us to discover this series of nudes with our eyes closed. With the help of a glove, we can discover this work and let ourselves go to new sensations: to see with the hands, to go beyond the surface of things. Always on his favorite subject – namely the naked human body – Booth allows us to feel the body and its contours through his eyes. Great success.
Via “Anamorphosis”, the photographer hides the naked body by demultiplying it, thus giving its concrete nature an abstract dimension and we find ourselves looking through a kaleidoscope. The artist also shot his models in a human-sized box containing a set of mirrors that he built himself.
The naked body loses its carnal identity to be transformed and give birth to new forms, magnificent and very poetic plant figures.
Again, the reality seems different. We think we see a constellation of flowers but it is a body repeating itself again and again that presents itself to us. And these new forms look alive.
One comes out subjugated by these photos, by the quality of the prints, reinforcing this new reality, this impression of beauty. A great look at contemporary photography.
Marie-Odile Radom
Acte2galerie
41 rue d’Artois – 75008 Paris
tel: 00 33 (0) 1 42 89 50 05
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
