Stéphane Daupley: "Geopoetic"

by French photographer Stéphane Daupley

'Roots...'
My professional development began in gardens. This was exciting because it was situated at the confluence of universes as diverse as drawing, agriculture and ecology.

In the course of professional experience at the C.A.U.E. (Council of Urban Architecture and the Environment at Orne), I met Alain Richert. He was then a landscape gardener and Professor at the (E.N.S.P) - Ecole Nationale Superieure de Paysage - of Versailles. It was alongside this non-conformist landscape gardener (who initially trained as a doctor) that my interest in a green heritage was born.

This interest stayed with me until the end of my social studies, at first at the University of Caen and then at the Institute of Psychology and Applied Sociology in Angers.

My Director of Research, Georges Bertin (specialist in the sociology of the imaginary and in Arturian mythology) consolidated a number of my intuitions about the predominance of the imaginary - sometimes Promethean, sometimes simply absurd - in the transformation of the modern countryside. My photographic project simply aims to illustrate this phenomenon.

'...and Wings'
To take photographs from the air is a relatively old project of mine. Experience in the air is interesting but places certain limitations. Very quickly, the need to fly lower and more slowly than is possible in a plane became clear. I discovered the possibilities of the paramotor - powered paragliding - (the smallest and the most ecological of aircraft) thanks to the work in Normandy of the photographer Francis Cormon (Francis takes photographs for the agency Altitude which was created by YANN ARTHUS BERTRAND). Personal reasons led me to take the plunge in June 2008. With my pilot’s wings in my pocket, I made my first flights in Anjou and Normandy. Taking aerial views is a discipline for which there is no school. Luckily, I can count on the friendly advice of Francis Corman who always gives me pertinent answers to my peculiar questions. Gradually, my site dedicated to the environment http://naturacolor.org will be built around aerial photos. This new professional work will supplement my work as a teacher. My project for the future is to expand my photo library to consider publications and to enter a contract with an agency.

Some References:
- Photographic Contributor to Village Magazine
- Shooting the Championnat d’Europe de Montgolfières (Brissac ‘09)
- Prix du Festival Art & Nature 2010 / Prize "Nature & Art Festival" 2010 (LPO / 44)

email: contact@naturacolor.org
or s.daupley@naturacolor.org

http://naturacolor.org
http://geopoetic.com

Stéphane Daupley:

"Geopoetic" - Vu du ciel ~ Photography from the air

"I am in my thirties. During the first half of my life, France lost 45,000 kilometres of hedgerows per year (that is, 5,000 kilometres more than the circumference of the Earth per year). Is this brutal transformation of the countryside the work of an unstoppable economic rationality? On the other hand, is this tabula rasa the unconscious projection of frustration or a Promethean desire? My photographic work does not seek to impose an answer but simply a question. For example, why has this tree in the middle of an open field survived? I finally composed the neoligism “Geopoetic” to explain this improbable dialectic of reason and subjectivity."

Special thanks to

Natalie CHABAUD
Kevin RYAN
Terry ALLEN
Florence BRAULT
Irina VANDERLELA Pires BARBOSA
Sebastien DAUPLEY

Curator of the gallery
Director of Charnwood Arts
English translation in U.K.
English translation in France
(Portuguese student) for the poster design of the exibition
Typographical and logotype design & adaptation