Thrilled to see Locked-in featured on BokehBokeh.photo today!
Tributes to my father
It is with infinite sadness that I share the passing of my father, Jean-Luc Autin, who closed his eyes for the last time last week on November 22nd. He fought in his last year a courageous battle against a cancer that we always knew to be terminal.
I posted a public tribute to him on the day of his passing on my personal facebook page, I have spoken at his service on Monday, please forgive me as I do not find the strength to do it again here today. Suffice to say that we & I loved him, tremendously.
I want to thank once more all of you who have written me, comforted me and shown me affection. I hope you will know how much I appreciate it.
When we heard about the diagnosis just over a year ago, our lives changed. After a few months, I started a new conceptual body of work called Blood Line. It addresses how terminal illness changes both communication and identity. I am almost done with it, it will be released soon and I have recently shared a sneak peek. But a few weeks ago, I submitted the photo Fluff to two organisations that I love, the Center for Fine Art Photography (C4FAP) in Fort Collins, Colorado and Don’t Take Pictures. I guess I wanted to gauge first impressions.
I heard on Wednesday last week that Don’t Take Pictures was including Fluff in its Masks exhibit, which is on view till February 21st. It was the day after his passing. Yesterday I heard that Fluff will also be part of the Signature Image exhibit at the C4FAP, from March 3rd till April 1st. I am honored and humbled by both news.
I absolutely did not want to document my father’s cancer and I approached this work looking for more universal viewpoints. But I do not forget that it comes from an incredibly personal experience – that this works also stems from him, that it was made about and for him. It therefore feels like an incredible gift from the C4FAP and Don’t Take Pictures to see that Blood Line is already out there in the world thanks to them. They have given me an opportunity to honor my father’s memory this way as well and I am deeply grateful.
BPF OPEN16 SOLO Shortlist Showcase
I just returned from a day visit with the family to Brighton which hosts this month the Brighton Photo Fringe. As I had mentioned when I shared the interview I did for the BPF, I’m very honoured to be part of the OPEN16 SOLO Shortlist Showcase at the Brighton Phoenix and the Outdoor Hub along with 19 other artists.
While visiting the SOLO Shortlist, I asked two people if I could take their spot for a second to take a picture of the projection of my work on the wall. As it happens, Frankie and Ian are teaching photography at a local school and after chatting a bit, they asked if I would mind showing my work to their students who were visiting the BPF for the day. I found myself giving an impromptu mini talk and then they asked for a photo of me with the students which felt like a funny surreal moment. It just goes to show photography connects people in more ways that you’d think! 😉
Here are a few phone snapshots from today. If you’re in the area, the BPF has some fantastic exhibits across town such as the one at King’s House (and you can find the full program here).
Oh, and if you’re not in Brighton but in Berlin this month, I’m also part of a projection at the Berlin Foto Biennale – but I won’t be able to attend. If you’re there, please send me photos! 🙂
New work – sneak peek
11 months ago my father nearly passed away from extreme complications on his first chemotherapy round. I was visiting him in France when it happened. After a month in the hospital he finally got home. Less than a week later he was taken back by ambulance with a life threatening infection, and as it happens I also was visiting then. The past year has been tough and I wish I could say that it’s been uphill from there. But that particular day with its particular circumstances has possibly branded me the most. I didn’t leave the hospital thinking I would do work about this; but somehow from that time onward I knew I would eventually.
That same week I had finished the Locked-in series. And 2016 can feel like it’s been a lot about getting that project “out there” – in the past fortnight alone I heard I’m in a show in NYC as well as one in Vermont and in the Berlin Foto Biennale (if you want to see what I’ve been up to in more details, you can check the CV I have recently added to my About page). But I actually spent a lot of my time making new work as well. I just haven’t shown any of it yet. So today I’m changing that with this small preview.
My new project is called Blood Line. It’s still growing and so I won’t share much for now. I can tell you that though it’s about terminal illness, it most certainly is not documentary work. You won’t see my father in any of the photographs. I can tell you that it’s been a profound challenge to address universal questions linked to such a personal experience and to do those justice with conceptual photography – but it’s also been an amazing process that I believe has helped me grow. So I hope you feel something with this first photograph of the series that I am sharing today:
Interview for Brighton Photo Fringe 2016
I am very honored to have been chosen by BPF16 Trainee Curator Jamila Browse to do an interview for the Brighton Photo Fringe 2016!
Jamila reached out to me as I am an OPEN16 SOLO Shortlist artist and the Locked-in series will be projected the whole month of October at the Phoenix Brighton. “Pulse” will also be at the BPFÂ Outdoor Hub at St Peter’s Church, 4 feet tall and all – quite a dramatic change from its original size!
Jamila sent me some very interesting questions and I was thrilled – even more so when I found out I was allowed to answer in depth! Cause you know, I don’t mind talking 😉
Here’s the link to the interview!!
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