Photography Week: Matter in Focus

Every November, Paris becomes a playground for photography lovers. From one fair to the next, perspectives converge and artistic practices are reinvented. On this journey through the arts, Wheely takes care of our travels, offering a moment of calm between discoveries.

Our first stop is Paris Photo at the Grand Palais, in the Emergence sector, where Marguerite Bornhauser presents her solo exhibition, Spectral Matter. During a residency coinciding with the monument’s renovation, the artist explored the construction site, collecting shards, dust and discarded fragments of materials from the ground. Dated and catalogued like archaeological remains, these remnants become the raw material for her images. In the darkroom, without a camera, she places them directly onto photosensitive paper. Light reveals their contours, thicknesses and transparencies, giving rise to abstract compositions with a cosmic quality. A sensitive way of preserving the material memory of an architecture in transformation.

Next, we head to a.ppr.oc.he at Le Molière for an exploration of photographic experimentation. With Moins 15000, Frédéric Delangle, represented by Galerie Binôme, embarks on an investigation into the origins of human representation. For nearly a decade, he has been studying the engraved limestone slabs of the Grotte de la Marche in the Vienne region. Hidden beneath their intricate surfaces are prehistoric portraits, almost impossible to discern with the naked eye. Through meticulous work with light and photography, he brings to the surface faces that digital scanning technologies had failed to reveal. Extending this research through engraving, he revisits the gestures of our ancestors and questions the very materiality of the image.

From fragments of a contemporary construction site to prehistoric engravings, photography reveals a shared fascination with matter, its transformations and the stories it holds. Between these two stops, Wheely extends the experience with its chauffeur-at-disposal service, allowing us to explore Paris at our own pace and enjoy a moment of respite between discoveries. •

photos : Spectral Matter, Marguerite Bornhauser © Charlotte Delafond • Frédéric Delangle © Frédéric Delangle