Silent Worlds: Olivier Meriel

A certainty is lodged in Olivier Meriel s heart and his photographic eye unveils it: the world is much more than it is willing to show us. Pure photography, with no trickery, digs away at living matter like an alchemist. A questioning that is nourishing in its slowness, like a long walk. Saturated mineral silver, carbon from the abyss. Between them, man is conscious of being the lone bearer of this enigmatic heritage which leads him to bear fitness. An outdoor life has highlighted the omnipotence of the sky. More recently, Olivier Meriel has withdrawn into the fortress of human hearts, within walls. (Vincent Hamel) AUTHOR: Olivier Meriel was born in 1955 in Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, in the French region of Calvados. For thirty years he has dedicated himself to photography as both a means of expression and an artistic discipline. He uses a large camera with extreme lengthy exposure times, and develops 30 x 40 contact prints without retouching. The power of his work, with a view that is both rigorous and sensitive, has gained him important assignments from various public bodies and numerous publications, in particular Lumieres d ombre, Hauteville House, Secrets du pays d'Ouche, and Juno Beach. 60 b/w images