Didier Massard
Didier Massard was born in Paris in 1953. Massard had attend the University of Paris
where he received his degree in art and archeology in 1975. He began his career as a still photographer
for cosmetic and fashion labels. Some of
these labels included big names like Chanel, Hermes and Cartier. He continued his commercial career for
twenty-five years until the unveiling of his series, “Imaginary Journeys,”
which took ten years to complete. This
was the start of his artistic career.
No longer working in the commercial world, Massard
realizes imaginary scenes and then fabricates these images in his studio. More closely resembling a painting or digital
art, his photographs consists of carefully constructed dioramas and purposeful
lighting techniques. The sets are
constructed to be sense through the lens of a camera. Each of these photos can take months to
create. On an average Massard only
completes about two to three images a year.
Within Massard’s
work, he evokes sort of a romantic and touristic idealism which draws from the
audience’s collective experience with ‘nationality and place.’ Each photo, he declares is “the completion of
an imaginary journey.” His work has the
intent to bring life into inanimate materials.
This he proclaims is the opposite of what most photography tries to
accomplish which ‘freezes a moment.’
Massard’s photographs are the realization of the imaginary from reality
and the bordering of a truth and lie.
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