With D’après Nature, the photographer turned to mountain landscapes where, at first glance, nothing seems to happen. As if to blur the lines. He, however, followed the ones leading to the peaks of the Alps. “Four or five parallel valleys that run from east to west, rising up to 2000 meters, and not very frequented.” Walking for days on end, moving from one mountain hut to another, occasionally descending to a village to meet up with a few friends, Jean Gaumy created images that reveal shapes, lines, and silhouettes in nature… using medium format. “To have a slower pace. These are days when suddenly, things impose themselves, offer themselves to you. You ‘recognize’ them.”
In these black-and-white photographs—both highly graphic, sometimes bordering on abstraction, yet also intimate—one often sees what one wants. This is also the power of this photography: it appeals to the viewer’s imagination, forcing them to look more attentively, at a time when our world pushes us to merely glance. In these images, one can sense the photographer’s personal story, his background, his past, and the human connections he has made.
Through his intimate perspective, Jean Gaumy captures the raw beauty and complexity of nature, revealing the invisible presence of humankind while inviting us to immerse ourselves in the wild and mystical beauty of these inhospitable territories.
