The nature factory. Photographs by Mathieu Gafsou
10 March to 15 June 2015
When Matthieu Gafsou entered the Grangettes Reserve, he thought he was discovering a space abandoned to nature. To his great surprise, he found himself in a territory where human interventions are massive. To show this shaping of nature, he chose to show the traces of human intervention through ostensibly fabricated photographs. His images are thus the antithesis of naturalist photography. Not seeking to celebrate the beauty of the reserve or to show its plant and bird life, he is content to present it as he perceives it: a space governed by a fragile balance between human actions and the impulses of nature, between internal harmony and external pressures. To his great surprise, he found himself in a territory where human interventions are massive. To show this shaping of nature, he chose to show the traces of human intervention through ostensibly fabricated photographs. His images are thus the antithesis of naturalist photography. He does not seek to celebrate the beauty of the reserve or to show its vegetal and ornithological richness, but simply presents it as he perceives it: a space governed by a fragile balance between human actions and the impulses of nature, between internal harmony and external pressures. Born in 1981, Matthieu Gafsou is without doubt one of the rising stars of Swiss photography. Trained at the Ecole supérieure d'arts appliqués in Vevey, he divides his time between his photographic work and his teaching at the Haute école d'art de Lausanne. Winner of numerous prizes and grants, author of four books, he has exhibited in prestigious places (Musée de l'Elysée, Musée d'art contemporain de Marseille, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, etc.). This photographic project was commissioned to Matthieu Gafsou by the Fondation des Grangettes for its 25th anniversary.