Interview with Alexandre Dupeyron

1. Can you introduce yourself? Your career, your sources of inspiration, your motivation as an artist. 

From a young teenager discovering the magic of the darkroom, I became a photojournalist to satisfy my wanderlust and curiosity about the world. Today, I am still driven by this urge to discover, but I have returned to a more artistic approach, nourished by all the experiences I have accumulated over the years. 

I live between Bordeaux, where I joined the LesAssociés collective and set up my studio, and Berlin, to be inspired and experiment with other artistic fields. For a long time, I was looking for a photographic material that resembled me and found a new field of research in dichromate rubber. My desire to change the reality from which photography is created is now continuing in print thanks to this technique with its unlimited plastic potential. I am slowly approaching the freedoms of painting. 

Among my main sources of inspiration, the Qatsi trilogy (Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, Naqoyqatsi) occupies a special place. This experimental film work, carried by the hypnotic music of Philip Glass and the radical vision of Godfrey Reggio, made a deep impression on me. It taught me that it is possible to construct a sensitive and political narrative without words, only through the arrangement of rhythm, light and movement.  She considers montage as a form of language, which particularly resonates with my way of looking at photographic material as a flow and living material, especially in the performances I develop. 

I am very sensitive to what happens between the boxes of a comic book, in the blank spaces of a photobook, in the ellipses, the areas left to the imagination of the reader or viewer. I love photography not so much for what it shows, but for its ability to allow silences, blurs, gaps... It's all these active spaces of narrative and projection that interest me. 

2. how did the idea for the exhibition come about? What role do you play in this project and what is your relationship with the various artists? 

"Ashes of the Future" is intended as a continuation of Dysnomia, where I am particularly interested in the fundamental element of fire. I like to explore the paradoxical dimension of fire: Carrier of life energy and death, of knowledge and destruction. I like to look at fire in its double Promethean dimension: liberating and destructive at the same time. 

Life on earth could only be created and maintained through a delicate balance between the elements. Fire, like all the other elements, plays an ambivalent role. It is the origin of many founding myths and the first technical knowledge; it enabled mankind to move from the raw to the cooked, to gather together, to protect itself and to process matter. But it is also a potential instrument of our own demise if used for destructive purposes, or if it becomes a symptom of an overheated world: a reflection of our entry into caloricization. 

What I try to question in "Ashes of the Future" is this fundamental tension, the need for a balance between forces that we too often disregard because we are carried away by our hubris - this excessiveness that leads us to consider ourselves masters and owners of the living. The fire is then no longer content to shine or warm, but to consume. 

 It is an honor to show "Ashes of the Future" as part of the Fotohaus Arles program put together by Christel Boget. We have known each other for a long time and I admire her commitment to bringing artists from France and Germany together through photography. Creating a connection and a dialog - isn't that the essence of what we want to achieve as artists?  I think this edition will be particularly rich as several collectives will be honored. 

3. What do the Rencontres d'Arles mean to you? 

Arles is a gentle mix of discoveries, encounters and reunions. The wealth of relationships that are forged here, the inspiration that awaits us in an exhibition or at a book display, make this event an unmissable meeting place for the sector. Over time, it has become a ritual and you can almost develop habits. It is fortunate to be able to meet artist friends, gallery owners and curators from all over the world in one place. Exhibiting here is even better, as it is a survey of contemporary photographic creation. I invite all photography lovers to enjoy this unique event in the South of France! 

4. You asked WhiteWall to support your project - what prompted you to do so? How do you see WhiteWall and how have you found the collaboration so far? 

I approached WhiteWall because I knew I could rely on their expertise and standards. The work I do with "Ashes of the Future" requires a very fine printing process, especially with the large formats and material reproduction. 

In this series, various iconographic registers from different sources are mixed together: reprographs of plan films, archival images, black and white, color and scientific photographs. These heterogeneous materials are organized according to a discursive logic in which the images dialogue, respond and sometimes contradict each other; like many layers of a single fragmentary narrative. I needed a photo lab capable of understanding the subtlety behind each photograph to be printed and that could offer different types of media and frames to fit the scenography we were designing. 

I already knew WhiteWall had a good reputation, but I was particularly impressed by the human quality of the collaboration and support.