Apnée

Apnea is the title choosen for the ensemble of pictures I realized in a french region named Berry on the footsteps of a writer George Sand who related the old legends and traditions of her country in the nineteen century. These old tales want to be an explanation of universe. This country of thick forest, lakes, ponds and foggy valley is a mysterious land full of strange and imaginary characters. There, the nature seems to be always enigmatic, lost in the mist, always surprising. George Sand said she was writing "to save of oblivion the time which is flying". So I photography this landscape to rediscover through our modern world the appearance of Past. Not because I am a backward-looking but because I like to go on the other side of the reality. I want to confront the present and the past, to unveil the passage between two worlds, reality and imaginary, painting and real landscape, something concrete and abstraction. My work as a photographer introduces the theme of transitions. Photography allows me to move from the real, visible world to an inner space where I can engage in constant dialogue with remembering and memory. « Certain activities require immobility in certain moments. When making love or taking a photograph, you can stop breathing: shutter release apnoea. I had guessed correctly: Aurélia holds her breath when she presses the trigger. » From Emmelene Landon in Apnée / Editions nonpareilles Aurélia Frey & Emmelene Landon