Jacques Garnier on his calming, visual meditations
Ostinato
Peacefulness. Many of us crave that in our busy, modern lives. Seldom do we stop, rest and reflect. For me, photography is a wonderful way of promoting calm and introspection -- there’s evidence of this in the minimalist photography by Jacques Garnier.
Garnier’s compositions invite you to get lost in his frames. They’re like a portal to another world, one that’s void of chaos and full of tranquility.
One should not rush through his images. Take your time, you’ll achieve a heightened state of relaxation. His works encourage you to be introspective, to reflect and consider the details of your life.
In this interview, Garnier shares his latest works: Hymns to the Silence. He speaks to his creative process and how minimalist black and white photography can influence us all in positive ways, including our mental state.
Find a quiet space, free yourself of distraction and be prepared to become fully immersed in the stillness of Garnier’s photographs.
Them Frames: Hi Jacques! Please tell us more about your love for negative space.
Jacques Garnier: The negative space tends to free us from the confines of the visual distractions. In Japanese, the word for negative space is Ma, which means ‘gap’, ‘space’ or ‘pause.’
In a work of art Ma exists as an emptiness yet to be filled or in musical terms would be ‘the silence between the notes which makes the music.’
This negative space allows me to operate at the core of abstraction: a purification, a reduction, a distillation that allows these images to serve as remembrance and as revelation
Field of Dreams
Them Frames: A lot of your work revolves around shape and texture. For you, what role do they play in your images?
Jacques Garnier: “The formula for doing a good job in photography,” states West Coast photography legend Imogen Cunningham, “is to think like a poet.”
Rather than crafting words, I prefer to use the lines, angles and light inspired by these architectural details to accentuate the visual ambiguities and inspire a calmer, unhurried and deeper interpretation of these elements.
These reductive abstractions transcend the subject matter itself and allow for an emotional and spiritual connection. With the mind at rest, devoid of the clutter, these spaces allow the viewer to reflect.
“This dance between the object as it was and what it has now become — a dance between the real and the abstract — is for me pure magic. ”
Them Frames: Light and Darkness is a constant in your series - what emotions do you hope they convey and what message are you aiming to send?
Jacques Garnier: The negative space of these deconstructed images is the pause between the notes of the music, a disruption, to make you create your own interpretation and to enjoy the silence.
This emptiness allows for unlimited potential. Appreciate the stillness and allow the quiet to pull you in.
Baleen
“These images in the “Hymns to the Silence” series border on meditations which, upon reflection, push you to experience life a bit differently.”
Them Frames: This series is exclusively in black and white. Why is that?
Jacques Garnier: Until a few years ago, I never thought that I would do work in anything other than color. I see, think and dream in color or so I thought until about five or six years ago.
Suddenly, the classical and nuanced tones of black and white photography started to percolate into my consciousness. I cannot imagine Hymns to the Silence being anything but black and white. Why? Consider the phrase ‘negative space.’ This immediately implies black space.
By removing the color from the image, it is far easier to eliminate the distractions so as to focus more on the object/abstraction in the frame of the composition.
The classical ‘feel’ of black and white allows for a far more nuanced approach, pleasing the viewer’s eyes while stimulating their imagination.
Infinitum
Them Frames: Talk to us about creating the book. What was the process of selecting the images like, how do you feel about the outcome?
Jacques Garnier: I always enjoy creating books and I was lucky to work with a great museum curator and wonderful designer. I wanted the layout to have a minimalistic feel to it, playing off the black and white theme of the imagery while keeping a sparse tone allowing for the work to rest in a meditative environment.
I try to seduce the viewer into wanting to look deeper and deeper into the images by creating pairings and sequences that flow naturally from one to another with proper room for each photograph to “breathe.” I must admit that I thoroughly enjoy this process. Am I pleased with the book? Absolutely.
Ascension
Them Frames: What type of paper did you print on and what finish did the images have? Please explain your approach to this process…
Jacques Garnier: Fuji Crystal Archive because of its fantastically nuanced tonal range. It’s the closest thing to Cibachrome which I loved because it made everything pop.
Them Frames: If you could pick a song or musician to be the soundtrack to this series, who would it be and why?
Jacques Garnier: The series title Hymns to the Silence was inspired by a song of the same name by Van Morrison. If I were to choose a soundtrack, it would probably be the album “Islands” by Ludovico Einaudi.
There is a sparse, romantic melancholy to his music that seems to eliminate the extravagances that parallels my poetic and visual interpretation of urban architecture.
Jitterbug Blues
Them Frames: Please finish this sentence. I need photography in my life because…
Jacques Garnier: It keeps me sane. The ability to create, to see the world through different eyes, to remove myself from the chaos and stress of the world by falling into a zone of appreciation and artistry cannot be minimized. It may be a cliché but time seems to be suspended when I am creating. This is truly the gift of all gifts.
You can see more work from Jacques Garnier by visiting his website. All images used with permission.
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