Garipuy, Chrystel

Chrystel Garipuy, New York, USA

L’Elisir d’Amore

Chrystel Garipuy: "Julia", from the series: "L'Elisir d'Amore"; C-Print, 45x45cm, 2004
Chrystel Garipuy: "Julia", from the series: "L'Elisir d'Amore"; C-Print, 45x45cm, 2004
Chrystel Garipuy: from the series: L'Elisir d'Amore: Andrea, archival inkjet print, 2003, 20,2x20,4cm, open edition
Chrystel Garipuy: from the series: L'Elisir d'Amore: Andrea, archival inkjet print, 2003, 20,2x20,4cm, open edition

I am presenting you my latest series of photographs entitled “L’Elisir d’Amore,” featuring staged portraits of friends, shot in 2003 and 2004 during two studio residencies at the School of Visual Arts, in New York City.

In this project I intended to create a gallery of uncanny and melancholic portraits of some of my friends, by combining mise en scène and stylization, and a subtle touch of tenderness. The harsh, dramatic, uniform lighting aims to heighten our appreciation of simple lines, folds and curves, bringing their uniqueness to the fore as they are illuminated. Also, by using minimalist backgrounds with eerie, imaginary qualities, I intended to give my friends a surreal air that is larger than life, while demonstrating their humanity through expressions of pain, surprise and pensiveness. This series has already been shown in Europe in 2003, featured in the Frankfurter Rundschau and shown in Brooklyn at WARP Design, from in February/March 2005.

Chrystel Garipuy, June 2005