Summer 2013: exhibition of fine art photographies in Charente-Maritime department, France. "The coast of Charente-Maritime: above under".

Sub title of the exhibition: "Lights and colors of wetlands"

Summary

The theme of the exhibition
The story of an artistic and naturalistic project
The exhibition in pictures
News coverage
Contact us

"The coast of Charente-Maritime: above under": the theme of the exhibition

Amar and Isabelle Guillen. Professional free lance photographers.

Isabelle and Amar Guillen, professional freelance photographers.

Summer 2013. We present 24 fine art photographs in the exhibition hall of the Estuary Park in the town of Saint Georges de Didonne in the department of Charente-Maritime in France. The title of the exhibition is "The Charente coastline: above under." Three themes have been choosen: underwater life of the Gironde estuary, wetland landscapes of the Charente coast, migratory wetland birds. This exhibition was commissioned by the General Council of Charente-Maritime. It will be traveling in the department for 5 years.

The subtitle of this exhibition is "Lights and colors of wetlands of Charente-Maritime." We wanted to continue our work and our project started in 2012 with the exhibition "Lights and colors of the coast of Charente-Maritime." All photographs taken for this exhibition funded by the General Council of Charente-Maritime meet our global vision of photography.

This exhibition will be traveling in the department for five years. It will be shown in different art galeries. It is composed of three different themes. The first one is devoted to the underwater life of the Gironde estuary. The second theme explores the landscape of the coastal wetlands of the Charente. The third theme is dedicated to the migratory birds of the Charente coast.

This exhibition shows not only our expertise in our three photography specialties but also the richness of the biodiversity of the marine and land of the department of Charente-Maritime. A year of work was required to create all photographs. The most difficult challenge was undoubtedly the underwater photos. Indeed, diving in the Gironde estuary was very difficult and very technical because of the poor visibility and strong currents.

This exhibition is firmly focused on the beauty of nature and the wonders of the animal world. We approached from an artistic point of view with a naturalistic approach.

Our interview for the french radio "Radio Demoiselle". (click the play button to start):

Our interview for the french radio "Radio France Bleue". (click the play button to start):

Our interview for the french radio. (click the play button to start):

The story of an artistic and naturalistic project

A year to create the 24 fine art photographs with a naturalistic approach.

You are going to enter the private world of the natural heritage of the Charente-Maritime.

The mosaic of the local landscape is the work and witness a unique ecological heritage wealth. It is also the guarantor of biodiversity and a part of typical life Charente identity.

With this advantage, the department of Charente-Maritime implemented since 1974 to preserve natural spaces. More than 2000 hectares of sensitive natural areas were acquired. They are permanently protected.

To promote this heritage and raise awareness about its protection, 14 Pôles-Nature occupying an area of ??1,152 hectares, are open to the public with entertainment. The Pôles-Nature Network, initiated in 1995 is unique in France. It is the result of discussions between the General Council, institutional partners, associations and local authorities. All are committed to a quality charter.

The meeting with the officials of the General Council in charge of poles nature leads us to the realization of a traveling fine art exhibition on the underwater world and coastal marshes of the Charente-Maritime. Our collaboration was evident as we share the same desires: to show the delicate balance between nature and people; the interdependence of the environment and the need to protect.

We have been committed to show the diversity of landscapes and whether underwater or wildlife. We wanted to sublimate lights and colors of some treasures of the Charente coast. Specialized in nature, underwater and wildlife photography, we are professional self-taught photographers based in the United States. We defined ourselves as researchers of lights and colors. These two components form the basis of our approach, on land or under water. Thus, we devote particular attention to research the details of the structures of elements that compose our pictures. As we have not met these elements, we will return to the mornings, evenings and seasons to take the right shots.

Patience and observation of the natural environment have been necessary to capture hundreds of pictures. But the nice encounters with men and women have been essential for us to open the doors of secrets to share.

The exhibition in pictures

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge it.

Exhibition Above Under The Coast of Charente-Maritime. Photographs by Amar Guillen.

News coverage

News published on the news website "Royan Actu"

Click here to read the article.

Rental of the photographic exhibition "Lights and colors of the coast of Charente Maritime"

The photographs in the exhibition are alternating between warm and cold tones.

Our exhibition is "Lights and colors of the coast of Charente Maritime" is available for rent. It targets communities, tourist resorts or companies wishing to show the hidden beauties of this French region. The loan of the exhibition is subject to a lease negotiated between the parties, which may vary depending on the size of the event, location and duration. A data sheet will be provided. Photographers may be present for an opening or a presentation. Contact us for the rental terms and availability of the exhibition.

Rigid panels or walls are enough to hang our art photographs. This exhibition has already been temporarily shown to Royan, Saint Georges de Didonne, Jonzac and La Rochelle. This exposure can be used indoors or outdoors but protected from the weather.

The subtitle of the exhibition is "Rediscover the hidden treasures of the coast of Charente Maritime, dressed with lights and unique colors." Indeed, some photos show known locations of Charente. Most local people were surprised how the subjects have been photographed. The photographed subjects were sublimated by the lights and colors, making them even more special.

Two years of work were needed to achieve those 20 shots. The 20 photographs are available in a 60 by 90 centimeters of the stuck against dibon (aluminum plates reinforced by a Plexiglass plate).

The photographs presented in this exhibition illustrate our vision of landscape photography. The first two elements of our photographs are the lights and colors. We always try to place the sun in our photos. As we like saturated colors, we always choose scenes with colorful subjects. The photographs of the exhibition are alternating bewteen cold and warm tones. Saturated colors in our subjects are dressed in lights. But we like to add a touch of structures and textures in the materials. These materials can be either in the sky like clouds or so human as architectural structures. or mudflats or earth. It is often difficult to account for textures with a camera even if we use long exposures. They are naturally present in our photos but are not pronounced. We just revive them. In this vein material recovery, we like to use the reflection of light at the water surface to create very high contrast areas to better attract the eye.

We asked the local poet Bernard Vassel to dress our photographs of his texts. We talked of our pictures, and he, on his writing. Sewing up the idea of collaboration has germinated. We appreciated his poems and his very bare world. We found many points of resemblance between his work and ours.

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