About
Pascal Demeester is a Belgian artist who lives and works in the United States since 1998 . He is currently based in New York City.
Statement for my last b/w series : "Vanishing Point" 2011-current
This work consist mainly in finding a strategy to release the persistence of the documentary effect of a photograph (which is the essence of an analog photographic image) without neglecting the importance of the documentary purpose of those images which in this case, will raise also environmental concerns.
Paradoxically, to complete that goal, I understood that I have to record voraciously specific fragments of the material reality with integrity and neutrality. Pure photography. Transparency. No subterfuge.
All tentative to move away from the imperial reality by technical means (lack of focus, filters, print manipulations, etc...) will inevitably lead me to perceive the images as a " technical experience" which will result in reinforcement of the referents presence. Needless to say that a digital image won't help me to achieve that quest as they are disconnected by nature from their material origin and will always be perceived as suspicious and "already retouched". Even knowing that an analog photograph (captured with a negative) is not a copy of the reality but a transformation of the reality itself that involves a physics and chemistry operation, it is still not enough to escape the insistence of the referent adherence.
I had to find peculiar fragments of reality, which after having been recorded and printed will have the particularity to disappear before my eyes.
Naturally, landscape studies became my place of predilection for my research.
During the last two years, I rode my motorcycle with a 4x5 Ebony Camera through the landscapes of France, Belgium and England.
The sites found, became sanctuaries of sorts to which I can go back and explore their evolutions according to the time and seasons, until their possible disappearances.
Using techniques that are as discreet as possible, the elegance of the landscape's harmonious inner natural composition and the application of the contrapuntal principle, I want to create potential moments where a photograph will visually destabilize me, triggering specific cultural memories.
During these moments, my spirit, has no choices but to spontaneously build webs of visual, emotional and musical sensations freely above the original documentary print. Vanishing Point. ©Pascal Demeester
Works
Vanishing Point 16, France, 2011 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np16
Vanishing Point 25, France, 2011 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np25
Vanishing Point 34, France, 2011 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np34
Vanishing Point 52, France, 2011 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np52
Vanishing Point 57, France, 2012 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np57
Vanishing Point 58, France, 2012 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np58
Vanishing Point 65, France, 2012 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np65
Vanishing Point 67, France, 2012 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np67
Vanishing Point 66, France, 2012 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np66
Vanishing Point 70b, France, 2012 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np70b
Vanishing Point 71, France, 2012 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Printt Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np71
Vanishing Point 72a, France, 2012 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np72a
Vanishing Point 72b, France, 2012 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np72b
Vanishing Point 74, Belgium, 2013 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np74
Vanishing Point 74, Belgium, 2013 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np74
Vanishing Point 82, England,2013 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np82
Vanishing Point 83b, England,2013 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np83b
Vanishing Point 84d, England,2013 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np84d
Vanishing Point 85a, England,2013 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np85a
Vanishing Point 86, England,2013 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np86
Vanishing Point 87, France, 2013 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np87
Vanishing Point 90, France, 2013 Fiber Based Gelatin Silver Print Edition consist of 10 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 48 x 60 inches Edition of 15 Prints and 1 Artist Proof 24 x 20 inches ID np90