A Garden Party at Brécy Castle

Garden Party during Patrimony Day 2018 to commemorate Barbara Wirth at Brécy Castle Gardens, Saint Gabriel Brécy, France.

A Garden Party at Brécy Castle Patrimony Day in France happens once a year and enables curious visitors to see and experience treasures of French patrimony that are not typically open to the public.  This year, I had the pleasure of experiencing several special places dressed for the occasion under beautiful blue sky of mid-September all in one weekend.  The first and foremost is Brécy Castle Gardens, which I had already photographed in 2012 with a large format film camera. This year, a private invitation was launched to commemorate the fifth year of the passing of Barbara Wirth.  Gardener extraordinaire, she and her husband Didier orchestrated the restoration of the gardens of Brécy from their purchase of the château in 1992. We learn, in reading the marvelous and freshly published Florilegium of Brécy Garden by Béatrice Saalburg and Catherine Watters, that the key to the elegance of this garden is a striking harmony of “just enough” in Barbara’s selection of plants.  To complement graphically dominant yew, hornbeam and boxwood topiary, of which an intricate parterre de broderie on the ground level sets the stage for the terraces, Barbara added a savvy selection of roses, clematis, hellebore, lily and iris.  She … Read More

Exhibition opening of Wild Wild West at Studio Galerie B&B

Elise Prudhomme exhibits new color work from her series "Wild Wild West" at Studio Galerie B&B in Paris, France.

Exhibition Opening of Wild Wild West | Studio Galerie B&B It was another memorable full-house at Studio Galerie B&B for the exhibition opening of “A Little Further West” (Un peu plus à l’ouest) featuring black and white photographs by Philippe Bachelier “Ouessantine Promenades” and new color work by Elise Prudhomme from her series Wild Wild West.  Here are a few photos taken during the evening! The show is on until 23 December 2016 and will reopen in January 2017. Studio Galerie B&B6 bis rue des Récollets – 75010 Parisinfo@studiogaleriebb.com

Wild Wild West | Exhibition at Studio Galerie B&B in Paris

Elise Prudhomme photography exhibition entitled Wild Wild West

Wild Wild West | Exhibition at Studio Galerie B&B in Paris from 13 – 23 December 2016 Honoring the centennial of America’s National Park Service, Elise Prudhomme presents “Wild Wild West” a contemporary study of Western American landscapes faced with man’s appropriation of them.  While contemplating the landscape definitely involves an aesthetic act, appropriating the landscape implies an act of transformation. Transformed into places of recreation, habitation or consumption, the evolution of these landscapes reveals a new picturesque. A l’occasion du centenaire pour la création des Parcs Nationaux aux Etats-Unis, Elise Prudhomme présente « Wild Wild West » une étude contemporaine sur les paysages d’Amérique de l’Ouest face à l’homme qui se les approprie. Tandis que contempler le paysage signifie assurément faire intervenir un acte esthétique, s’approprier le paysage implique un acte de transformation. Transformés en lieux de récréation, habitation ou consommation, il en résulte de nos paysages d’aujourd’hui un nouveau pittoresque. Exposition du 13 au 23 décembre 2016Vernissage le mardi 13 décembre de 18h à 21h Studio Galerie B&B6 bis rue des Récollets – 75010 Parisinfo@studiogaleriebb.com

Sands of Time, a series of large format pinhole photographs

Jardin d'Acclimatation and lodging house, Tatihou Island, Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, France. 2014 (series Sands of Time) by Elise Prudhomme.

Sands of Time In recent photographic studies, I have been exploring the theme of the sentiment of nature. Raised in a family of architects and passionate gardeners, I am interested in an art of nature capable of encompassing both garden and landscape.  This new series of large format pinhole photographs, Sands of Time, excerpt from an ongoing project on the development of the cultural landscape and the emergence of a new picturesque in the Cotentin, includes work done on historic Tatihou Island*, where layers of symbolic material trace the constant evolution of man in his environment. * Tatihou Island, owned by the Conservatoire du Littoral, is managed by the Conseil Général de la Manche. Sables du temps Récemment, j’explore le thème du sentiment de la nature au travers d’études photographiques. D’une famille d’architectes et de jardiniers passionnés, j’étudie l’idée d’un art de la nature en mesure de rassembler à la fois le jardin et le paysage.  Extrait d’un projet en cours sur l’évolution du paysage culturel et l’émergence d’un nouveau pittoresque dans le Cotentin, j’expose aujourd’hui une série de sténopés, intitulée Sands of Time, qui inclue le travail réalisé lors d’un séjour sur l’Ile de Tatihou*, où les couches de … Read More