Mention honorable dans la catégorie « Argentique »

This photograph is part of an ongoing work exploring analog photography through experiments such as contrast, chiaroscuro, and abstraction. My practice seeks to move away from the iconic image or the polished realism in order to enter a more enigmatic and dreamlike space and atmosphere.

For this work, I shot with Ilford Pan 400 ISO film, deliberately “pushed” to 1600 ISO. This process intensifies both grain and contrast. I wanted to create an atmosphere where the image appears detached from strict reality. I am particularly interested in how these technical gestures allow chance, imperfection, and distortion to become active elements of the final photographic result. The blur, far from being a flaw, is a conscious decision, a way of resisting the smoothness and perfection of digital imagery that saturates our visual environment nowadays.

The print I present is the result of my own darkroom process. I value the solitude and meditative state that emerges while working in this space, where each step, from exposure to development, feels like a dialogue with time and material. The hand-printed quality of the silver gelatin print is essential, as it emphasizes uniqueness and a tactile presence that cannot be replicated.

Although the image was taken in daylight, by embracing backlight and contrast I accentuate the illusion of night. This ambiguity between what is seen and what is imagined, between clarity and obscurity, is central in my work. My aim is not to capture reality as it is, but to invite the viewer into a suspended state, where the photograph becomes closer to an abstract painting, a fragment of memory, or the trace of a dream.

Through this piece, I propose an image that resists definition, and instead offers space for contemplation, resonance, and interpretation.