EXPOSITION

PAUL GAFFNEY

Hombourg, photographies installées en extérieur

Inspiré par la méditation bouddhiste, Paul Gaffney a marché quelque 3000 kilomètres à travers le sud de l’Europe (France, Espagne, Portugal). Pour Paul Gaffney, les images de forêt sont une transcription de l’expérience vécue du marcheur, un vecteur de ses propres émotions. Son intense observation porte non seulement sur l’environnement de la nature, mais aussi sur le fonctionnement de son propre esprit. La pratique de la photographie s’apparente ici à un processus physique et méditatif. Se distinguant de la tradition du paysage représenté, Paul Gaffney prône un paysage ressenti, en lien direct avec la perception physique du photographe-marcheur.

We make the Path by Walking, premier livre auto-édité de Paul Gaffney, a été retenu dans la liste des meilleurs photobooks de 2013, notamment par The British Journal of Photography. Ce travail a été également présenté lors d’expositions monographiques à la galerie Oliver Sears (Dublin), à la galerie Flowers (London), à la Ffotogallery (Cardiff) et durant le PhotoIreland Festival 2013 (Dublin) ainsi que dans plusieurs expositions collectives aux États-Unis, au Royaume-Uni, en Afrique du Sud, en Irlande, en Italie et en Chine. Dans la lignée de ce premier livre, Paul Gaffney a publié Stray et Périgee. En 2016, Paul Gaffney a été en résidence au CNA-Centre National de l’Audiovisuel au Luxembourg.


For the past number of years, Paul Gaffney has been investigating different ways of experiencing and representing landscape. His research is focused on developing a meditative approach to landscape photography, and explores how the act of image making can enable and disrupt a sense of connection with one’s surroundings.  Drawing on Arnold Berleant’s theory of a ‘participatory approach’ to landscape, in which the artist, environment and viewer are considered to be in continuous dialogue with each other, his practice proposes to communicate an experience of immersion in nature to the viewer.  Gaffney holds an MFA in Photography from the University of Ulster in Belfast, and a Diploma in Documentary Photography from the University of Wales, Newport. He was recently selected for the Arts Council’s ‘Next Generation Bursary Award’ 2016-17.

His acclaimed photobook, We Make the Path by Walking, focused on the idea of long distance walking as a form of meditation. His second publication Stray was photographed by night in a dense Irish forest during an artist residency in 2014, and his latest project Perigee was made in the Ardennes in Luxembourg under the light of the full moon. His books have been nominated for the Photobook Award at the International Photobook Festival Kassel (2013 & 2016), shortlisted for the European Publishers Award for Photography, and selected for several ‘Best Photobooks of The Year’ lists. Gaffney’s work has also been presented as solo exhibitions at the Centre national de l’audiovisuel (Luxembourg), Flowers Gallery (London), Gallery of Photography (Dublin), Belfast Exposed Gallery, Ffotogallery (Cardiff), Oliver Sears Gallery (Dublin) and in group shows and festivals in the US, UK, South Africa, Ireland, Italy, France and China. His images have been published internationally in print and online periodicals including American Suburb X, Harvard Design Review, Creative Review, The New Yorker, European Photography, DU Magazine, Katalog, PaperJam, Source, Photomonitor and Landscape Stories. Paul Gaffney is represented by Olivier Sears Gallery (Dublin, Ireland).