Stand By

[ 1998 - ... ]   series of C-Prints mounted on Aluminium, 100x56cm

Stand by refers to the idiom used for devices that are not in use but remain (re-)active; at any given time they can then quickly obey to their user. Of course this mode requires some useless energy because it's not turned off...

I like this in-between state, a kind of agglomerate of responsiveness and serenity. For this photographic project, I delimit a 16/9 frame (referring to narrative proportions used in the cinema) and I expect things to happen within this predefined portion of space. This frame is like an empty stage in theatre, a « locus of all possible ».

I wait patiently, most of the time for hours, for one single 'click'.
Very often, I come back without any picture taken and this is also part of the game. This experience of waiting is somehow more important than the result. This experience allowed me to appreciate the slow work processes, which became a specificity for my research.

The work can take place anytime, anywhere and is - for this reason - a kind of ever continuing project, with an almost meditative method acting as a quest on itself.