“Satan’s or God’s, what does it matter? Angel or Siren / What does it matter, if you make, – velvet-eyed fairy, / Rhythm, perfume, glow, O my only queen! / The universe less hideous and moments less heavy “Charles Baudelaire
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In mid-September, at the Galerie Acte2, I was able to observe modern mermaids forever immortalized on the glossy paper of photographic prints. They swim, they dance, they undulate in the water and seduce us from the first glance, magnified by a beautiful light (natural or spotlight). Astonishingly sensual, their rare imperfections masked by the waves, they seem to be at one with the element that surrounds them. And with a poetic sweep of their hair, they beckon us to join them in the abyss.
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These naiads, metamorphosing to the rhythm of the waves and the light, were photographed by Michael Dweck in Long Island, Miami and Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida. Dweck’s photographic world evokes the sea, waves, flowers, softness, romance and sensuality as an art of living. A veritable ode to hedonism, his photos are pure masterpieces featuring nude surfers, mermaid women, surfboards on the sand and, of course, the sea and its waves.
Sonyapoles
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Michael Dweck discovered his passion for photography when his parents gave him his first Kodak camera at the age of seven. A student at the Pratt Institute of Fine Arts in Brooklyn, he first built his reputation in advertising, where he received over 40 international awards, including the Golden Lion at the Cannes International Film Festival as artistic director.
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Since then, Michael Dweck’s photographs have been featured in fashion and women’s magazines: Vanity Fair, GQ, Vogue France, Esquire, Oyster, Black and White… Not to mention exhibitions in New York, Tokyo and Paris. Drawing inspiration from his teenage years spent on the beaches of Long Island, Dweck has made a name for himself photographing the American surf culture of Montauk, a 70s fishing village lost in the Atlantic. The photographer arrived in Montauk as a teenager when he heard that the Rolling Stones had rented a house to rehearse their next album. He never found them, but he remained attached to this corner of the world and was inspired by surf culture, the hippie movement and the women he met there.
Lilla
With a touch of nostalgia, he showcased his photographs of surfers in a first book published in 2004 entitled “The End: Montauk, N.Y.” to leave a trace of this world before it disappeared. He admits to having always chosen local characters in order to remain true to the Montauk legend: surfers have long hair, young women are naked on the beach and surfboards are piled up in a corner of grass and sand when they’re not lashed to the roof of a pickup truck.
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Her second book “Mermaids published in New York in 2008, celebrates the romantic vision of a time when the world was all about innocence, and puts the spotlight on modern sirens. One full-moon evening, the photographer was intrigued by the shadowy forms of a fish passing beneath the surface of the water, and his mind saw in them the appetizing forms of women, the discreet charm of mermaids. This was the starting point for his exploration of female nudity through the prism of water. Her photographs, full of sensuality and romance, are taken in the underwater marine environment.
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And these photos are superb, transporting us to another world, to the abysses where these mermaids swim. Luminous or dark, they cannot leave us indifferent.
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Michael Dweck is represented by Galerie Acte2, which recently exhibited his work and offered several of his pieces to Solo Show Off.
Wendy on Knees
Photo credits: © Michael Dweck with the courtesy of Acte2 Galerie.
www.michaeldweck.com
www.acte2photo.com
Act2 Gallery
41 Rue d’Artois 75008 Paris
Marie-Odile Radom
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
