The work of Denis Olivier is simply magical. Each landscape is composed in a way that feels as though you have the room to breathe in the majesty of repetition or isolation. All of his works evoke a feeling of surrealism yet in his digital artwork we truly see the playful and whimsical way Olivier is able to look at the world. The combinations of wild animals and vintage photographs amongst exotic landscapes would bring a smile to anyone’s eyes. That and a feeling of wonderment, like seeing a storybook for the first time as a child.
As a body of work, his appreciation for minimalism in nature is breath taking, as is his study of black and white. The monochromatic nature of his photography boils everything down to an objects and repetition or isolation become mandatory means of drawing the eye into another realm. While Denis Olivier is an artist and photographer residing in France, many of his photographs portray his world travels, every single well timed and composed photograph at a time.
–
–
Our many many thanks go out to Denis for agreeing to let us showcase his wonderful delightful work; please, check out his current devotion, the website Art Limited, which is part artists community, part project creation, and part digital gallery. Make sure you visit his personal photography website as well, where you can order prints of his work. And finally, be sure to check out and like his Facebook Portfolio. Mr. Olivier was kind enough to answer a few questions–please click this link for the interview, to get a glimpse into this wonderful creative mind.
–
Please read Denis Olivier’s artist statement:
My first encounter with photography took place when my parents performed some strange static dances with an object in front of their face. Later they would close themselves up in a special room under the house for long periods of time, and no one was allowed in. They diligently made sure that they were left to their own devices while inside. One day I was given permission to enter the room and allowed to stay, but on the condition that I didn’t move or went out. I remember there was a unique chemical perfume and a red light.
I was bewildered: my parents appeared flashing a white light on a piece of paper using a strange apparatus. Then they dipped it into a clear liquid and Behold! I couldn’t believe it, A miracle! They were wizards who created pictures.
In the following years I didn’t really follow his experiments, I was too young to manipulate cameras and I preferred to draw. Photography, Architecture and Art was always present around us and I still remember the black and white exhibitions that we visited.
When I was a teenager, I continued to draw and started to paint a little. I even took part in some local exhibitions. At the age of 17 I began to take some photographs, I was especially fascinated by mineralogical micro mounts. I started studying biochemistry, but after 3 years I changed to Poitiers school of fine-arts, and took an interest in computer graphics and generated imagery.
While I was there I meet Alain Fleig who introduced me to art photography. I also felt a need to practice photography, and with a friend we spent a lot of time learning how to develop films and photographs. We did sessions with models, scenery, and discovered France.
The second year I had my first personal exhibition in a gallery, which was a great experience, then a training placement with Philippe Salaün, who was at this time Robert Doisneau’s developer. Following this I did some jobs for organizations, shows and commissioned works. I then started in December 1995 working with computer graphics and made use of the Internet.
I worked in artistic direction for several years, then digital cameras came along and I found a way to work quickly and experiment without using too many resources such as film, chemicals, photo sensitive paper and of course the wonderful resource of water. I really came back to photography in 2005, testing landscape in infrared, that brings me into the world of long exposures.
Now I meet and exchange information with many photographers after the freedom Digital SLRs have given me to have exactly what I want with the different lenses and power features. I continue to produce some material and I’m involved and maintain collaborative projects such as Art Limited (link http://www.artlimited.net).
Born 1969, Royan, France,
Currently lives in Bordeaux, France.