Géraline LAY*

Géraldine LAY

Chêne-pointu, Clichy-sous-bois

Since 2004, a major urban renewal plan has been transforming the Chêne-Pointu neighborhood in Clichy-sous-Bois, with the gradual demolition of more than 1,200 housing units. Over a period of three years, Géraldine Lay photographed the residents of this neighborhood as part of the project Mémoires, under the direction of Éric Reinhardt.

Série Le chêne-pointu, Clichy-Sous-Bois, Mains et sucette, 2021 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Le chêne-pointu, Clichy-Sous-Bois, Mains et sucette, 2021 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Le chêne-pointu,Clichy-Sous-Bois, Bras croisés derrière le dos, 2021 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Le chêne-pointu,Clichy-Sous-Bois, Bras croisés derrière le dos, 2021 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série La lune sourit le jour, Chartres-de-Bretagne, 2024 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série La lune sourit le jour, Chartres-de-Bretagne, 2024 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN

Far East

Série Far East, Kyoto, 2018 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Far East, Kyoto, 2018 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN

Over the course of four autumns, Géraldine Lay photographed Japan. Each year, she encountered the same white light that makes colors burst forth. Traveling by train from one place to another, she gradually moved away from the major cities, setting out to encounter a less spectacular, perhaps rougher everyday life, in search of a new material—both in the literal and figurative sense.

North End

“Les histoires sont tout. Elles sont absolument tout.
Les histoires sont notre véritable sixième sens, notre manière
de voir et de comprendre le monde. Et notre façon de nous y faire une place. »
“Stories are everything. They are absolutely everything. Stories
are our real sixth sense. They are how we see and understand
the world. And they are how we place ourselves in it. »

Robert McLiam Wilson

Extract of Je hais les photographes, North End, Ed. Actes Sud

Série North End, Glasgow, 2009 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série North End, Glasgow, 2009 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série North End, Londres, 2015 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série North End, Londres, 2015 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN

Impromptus

Série Impromptus, Paula, 2007 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Impromptus, Paula, 2007 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Impromptus, Céret, 2015 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Impromptus, Céret, 2015 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN

Géraldine Lay builds a visual grammar grounded in patient observation. Her images do not seek the extraordinary; instead, they explore transitional zones—spaces where colors, bodies, and places coexist in a fragile harmony. Light, often soft and slanting, acts as a revealer of micro-events: it brings out the poetry of details, the unexpected presence of emotion within an ordinary setting. Color echoes speak of everyday life with grace. Attentive to shadows and reflections, she captures fleeting moments and ordinary gestures that, through the détour of her gaze, seem to belong to a parallel world, somewhere between dream and reality.

Failles ordinaires

For some, photography is merely a recording tool; others, like Géraldine Lay, love photography and grant it the ability to go beyond simply capturing fragments of time. She perceives the magic that slips in whenever there is photography, understanding that the act of stopping and slicing time will forever remind us of the fragility of our existence, and that, when this act succeeds, it creates emotional states within us.

 

Extract of Les pannes du mouvement, Jacques Damez, Failles ordinaires, Actes Sud

Série Failles ordinaires, Saint-Petersbourg, 2011 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Failles ordinaires, Saint-Petersbourg, 2011 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Failles ordinaires, Finlande, 2006 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Failles ordinaires, Finlande, 2006 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Failles ordinaires, Copenhague, 2010 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Failles ordinaires, Copenhague, 2010 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Failles ordinaires, Norvège, 2009 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Failles ordinaires, Norvège, 2009 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Failles ordinaires, Paris, 2011 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Failles ordinaires, Paris, 2011 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN

Un mince vernis de réalité

Série Un mince vernis de réalité, Calanques, 2001 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Un mince vernis de réalité, Calanques, 2001 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Un mince vernis de réalité, Les collants blancs, 2002 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN
Série Un mince vernis de réalité, Les collants blancs, 2002 ©Géraldine Lay courtesy of galerie SIT DOWN

Géraldine Lay develops a visual grammar rooted in patient observation. Her images do not seek the extraordinary; instead, they delve into transitional zones—spaces where colors, bodies, and places coexist in a fragile harmony. Light, often soft and oblique, acts as a revealer of micro-events: it brings forth the poetry of details and the unexpected presence of emotion within an ordinary setting. Color echoes convey everyday life with grace. Attentive to shadows and reflections, she captures fleeting moments and ordinary gestures that, through the détour of her gaze, seem to belong to a parallel world, somewhere between dream and reality.

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Expositions

2025

Sans titre

La lune sourit le jour

Galerie du Carré d’Art, Chartres-de-Bretagne

Far East

Artothèque Les Ars au mur, Pessac

3

2023

4

Far East

PARIS PHOTO, Grand Palais, Paris

2022

Le Japon en duo, Quatre automnes

Galerie Le Réverbère, Lyon

5

2017

6

North End

Espace Malraux, Joué-lès-Tours

2016

North End

Galerie Le Réverbère, Lyon

7
8

Biography

Born in 1972 in Mâcon, Géraldine Lay lives and works in Arles. A graduate of the École nationale supérieure de la photographie in 1997, she has developed a practice attentive to ordinary situations and the quiet narratives found in everyday life.

Her work is regularly exhibited in France and internationally. Her series—including Un mince vernis de réalité, L’illusion du tranquille, Failles ordinaires, North End, and more recently Far East—have been shown in numerous venues such as the Rencontres d’Arles, Le Château d’Eau (Toulouse), the French National Archives, the BnF, as well as several festivals across Europe and Asia. For twenty years, she was represented by Galerie Le Réverbère (Lyon).

Alongside her artistic practice, Géraldine Lay has worked with Actes Sud Éditions, where she has been an editor for photography and contemporary art since 2019. This editorial activity intersects with her photographic approach and contributes to a precise perspective on the construction of images and books.

She regularly undertakes residencies and commissioned projects in various locations—including Nantes, Céret, Montauban, Glasgow, and Clichy-sous-Bois, among others—and has received several institutional grants, including the Hors les murs grant from the Institut français and the Ville de Lyon / Institut français grant for a project in Japan.

Several publications accompany her work: Far East (Poursuite, 2023), North End (Actes Sud, 2018), Impromptus (Poursuite, 2017), Failles ordinaires (Actes Sud, 2012), and Où commence la scène (Diaphane, 2010). In 2025, she publishes La lune sourit le jour (Sur la crête) and contributes to the collective volume Les femmes photographes sont dangereuses (Flammarion).

Her works are held in several public collections, including the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, FRAC Midi-Pyrénées, Le Château d’Eau, and numerous art libraries.