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Carly Steinbrunn |
Carly Steinbrunn/Special mention
The Voyage of Discovery
Standing out as the report of an imaginary travel to an unknown land, the delicate photographs of Carly Steinbrunn appeal to the encyclopaedic research in its poetic dimension. Refering to disciplines like anthropology, botany and zoology, the artist unveils the links between different aspects of reality.
The main source of this cycle which goes across the typology of photography can be found in the expeditionary tales of Bougainville or James Cook, the novels of Jules Vernes but also Tristes Tropiques by Claude Lévi-Strauss. Some of the images bring to mind the works of famous masters like Le Gray, Nadar, Karl Blossfeldt or Michael Schmidt.
It is interesting that this references are situated on the crossroads of science and art, therefore precisely where the topos of photography comes from. In addition, the artist puts together photographs which she has taken by herself with ones of unknown origin. This creates a sort of confusion but on the other hand gives us the capacity to invent the between the images. This stimulation is even more effective since the author does not provide any definite key but leaves us only with foggy signs to refer to.
Basing her poetic work in the reflection over the medium, Carly Steinbrunn consequently imprints in her photographs the relevancy with the contemporary creations.
But let’s not be mistaken. The classicism visible in the cycle enhanced by, black and white prints, traditional subjects or even a certain nostalgia are deliberately used just to play with the illusionnary capacity and ‘’transparency’’ of photography. In this respect we can compare the works of Carly Steinbrunn to those of contemporary photographers whose influence is strong nowadayss, like Roe Ethridge or Mark Wyse.
— Paul Frèches
