Mind's Eye / Galerie Adrian Bondy is currently presenting "North Light," a compelling photography exhibition by French photographer Christian Poncet. The exhibition showcases Poncet's distinctive photographic journey through the northern regions of France, capturing landscapes that have become his artistic obsession over more than a decade.
Born in Lyon, Christian Poncet has made his home in Haute-Savoie, where he has spent the last twenty years photographing the surrounding lakes and mountains. These magnificent and varied landscapes represent the kind of scenery that many photographers can only dream of capturing. However, over time, these beautiful spaces became so familiar to him that he no longer noticed them with a photographer's eye, which is always on the lookout for new and compelling images.
The North has always held a mysterious attraction for Poncet, though he struggles to explain exactly why. He questions whether it's the monotony of the flat and uniform landscapes, the constantly changing light, or perhaps that very special atmosphere that provides such a stark contrast to his usual Alpine surroundings. This inexplicable draw led him to embark on a transformative photographic journey in 2012.
During that pivotal year, Poncet set off on a week-long journey from the Bay of the Somme to Belgium, traveling from Cayeux-sur-mer to Ostend. The month of May proved to be cool and rainy, with grey sandy beaches that were largely deserted except for a few solitary walkers struggling to make headway against the wind in their raincoats. Initially, the conditions seemed to offer nothing that would encourage him to pull out his camera.
However, Poncet found himself unable to resist certain compelling scenes that emerged from this seemingly bleak landscape. The colorful, haphazard shacks of Berck-plage caught his attention, along with the area's outdated white buildings. A little further along his journey, he encountered the seafront of Stella-plage, featuring a dark stone wall facing the sea, overlooked by a vast parking lot and a seemingly abandoned wasteland. The only sign of life in this desolate scene was a bar-restaurant with its tempting sign advertising "frites – gaufres – crèpes" (french fries, waffles, and crepes), standing as a lone guardian of this forgotten landscape.
Since that initial expedition, Poncet has returned to the northern region regularly, typically visiting in spring or late summer. Little by little, images have accumulated in his portfolio, creating a substantial body of work. Despite having enough material to move on to other projects and discover new horizons, Poncet finds himself continually drawn back to the North, suggesting this region will continue to inspire his work for years to come.
The exhibition "Christian Poncet: North Light" runs from September 14 through October 22, 2023. The gallery is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 2pm to 7pm, while visits from Tuesday through Friday are available by appointment only. Mind's Eye / Galerie Adrian Bondy is located at 221 rue Saint-Jacques in Paris's 5th arrondissement, and interested visitors can make appointments by calling 06 85 93 41 92 or visiting www.mindseye.fr.
