Pictorial Way

04.08.2022

Written by... Laura Bonnefous

Through a mixed-media image that focuses on the spaces she encounters, or the ones she recreates, Laura Bonnefous offers us a poetic depiction of reality. His projects are cross-cut- ting between personal project and commissions through photography and film.

Inspired by the relationship that mankind maintains with our contemporary landscape, but also captivated by the mutation our society goes through, she studies and deciphers our humanity’s mythologies in order to depict them with sensitivity. She recreates with these elements from reality her own spaces : metaphorical and personal universes.

Both pictorial and sculptural, her work tends to abstraction, and thus, proposes a new archeology of our contemporary codes.

She developped her mixed-media practice by studying at the Beaux Arts de Paris, the Otis College of Art and Design of Los Angeles and Gobelins, l’école de l’image in Paris.

Laura Bonnefous takes part in exhibitions and residencies internationally. She was exhibited at the 104 in Paris, the Cité Internationale des Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Arts of Bangkok, the Onishi Studio in Japan, the Parcours Saint Germain in Paris, and the Voies Off in Arles, Le Mois de la Photo in Paris, in the Palais Galliera in Paris, the Arezzo Photography Festival in Italy, the Festival of young international photography in Niort, she was part of the Salon Révélation in 2019. Her work is to be seen in July 2019 in Arles for the FotoHaus exhibition, in October 2019 for the Rencontres du 10e Arrondissement in Paris or the Promenades Photographiques de Vendôme in 2020.

In 2021, she took part in Festival de Saint Brieuc, had an exibition in Maire de Paris and created her first project to publish her series Failles with Editions H2L2. In 2022, she realise her second book Kilamba, which will be released during the Rencontres de Arles 2022 with Louis Vuitton Editions.

She’s part of the 30 under 30 Women Photographers in 2015. She won different prizes, such as the Bourse du Talent, the Prix Picto or the Creative Directors Prize. She also ended up a finalist for the Prix de l’Académie des Beaux Arts de Paris and the BMW Residency.

The project “Pictorial way”, shown here, is important to me because it combines different inspiring arts. It mixes painting and dance in front of canvases through my photography.

The idea is to raise feelings and emotions through color. It brings together different talents and arts around a common creative project. It gathers different talents and arts around a common creative event. Dancers, choreographer, painter, stylist, make-up artist, hairdresser, technical teams, worked in a creative and exciting fusion.

GFX100S & GF63mmF2.8 R WR

I like to create images far away from reality and explore by shapes and colors a dreamlike universe. My personal works explore delicate linkages between the colors and our contemporary world through poetic pictures mixing bodies and landscapes. I minimize as much as possible the images composition and create them only with spaces and volumes.

I finished my first book (FAILLES, H2L2 Publisher) last year. I am working now on a second one, published by Louis Vuitton for the “Rencontres Photographiques de Arles 2022”. It’s a work on a city called Kilamba in Angola, which is simultaneously confusing and captivating.

GFX100S & GF45-100mmF4 R LM OIS WR

Such a project requires a strong preparation because of so many contributors involved. I first made a storyline summarizing my idea and shared it. The team around me are extremely important. The tight communication is essential to create synergies and hold high this powerful and creative project. I’ve been working for several years with the shooting and post-production team. They well know my perspective and I like their sensitivity. It allows us to quickly communicate in purpose to improve the technical issues of the work.

GFX100S & GF45-100mmF4 R LM OIS WR

This project is shouted in a studio, without any décor in purpose to preserve a raw feel. The floor bears the marks of a previous art working place and it well match with the movements of the dancers.

I use electronic flashes to freeze the movements. I built a soft, luminous lighting that keeps some volume and emphasize the harmony of colors between the paintings, the dancers, and the styling. A graphic dialog between colors is set, creating vivid pictures that enhance the emotions.

GFX100S & GF45-100mmF4 R LM OIS WR

My photographic equipment must give me the opportunity to develop my creativity. I also need a great comfort to work in a quiet mood, freed from any technical issue. My work is precise and meticulous. I need a camera that meets all my requirements regarding color reproduction and resolution to enlarge without limits my pictures for my exhibitions and my publications.

That’s why I chose the GFX 100S. Its color reproduction is extremely precise and faithful, with an exceptional quality. Its ergonomics gives me a great freedom in my movements allowing me to be immerged in the action, with the dancers, and record vivid images.

GFX100S & GF63mmF2.8 R WR

Usually, I mainly use prime lenses as the GF45mm, GF63mm and GF110mm but here I preferred the zoom lens GF45-100mm to frame the dancers with a large angle and, if necessary, to have the opportunity to zoom in the frame and freeze a part of a movement. The sharpness and precision of the Fujifilm G-mount lenses is in line with my needs of precise images.

For me the very second main asset of the GFX 100S is its lightness, compacity and its mobility. It’s a real breakthrough in the world of large format cameras. Competitor’s cameras are too heavy, difficult to use on moving or outdoor shootings. The GFX 100S really changes the deal. It’s now possible to break free from heavy gears while taking strong images. The in-body image stabilization is also a major asset, especially when shooting movement.

GFX100S & GF63mmF2.8 R WR

I worked with Capture One software, the ease and speed of the connectivity with the GFX 100S are a real advantage and a huge time saver. The fact that the camera’s battery is charged by the computer and the reactivity ot the software gives me great fluidity in my shots. I take my images in RAW as the quality of the file to get an optimal development is very important to me. When I work on the color of the images with Photoshop, a file of such a quality allows me to make extremely precise and subtle adjustments of color. This is leading for my work.

GFX100S & GF63mmF2.8 R WR

In conclusion, the GFX 100S is a key point to realize that type of challenging project.

I would like to thank personally the dancers and the teams who worked with me on this project. Thank you Julien Gaillac, Stéphanie Brissay, Julia Dagood, Feroz Sahoulamide, Eva Assayas, Anne Fotso, André Atangana, Aliashka Hilsum, Frederic Congiu, Laura Merle, Cyril Laforet, Vassili Boclé, Matthias Debras, Alexis Barbe, Zoé Bouvault, Studio Zorse, RVZ Paris, Foodre, Tribe Management, Tatler Asia…

Laura Bonnefous