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The forest
The forest

"We do not have to be long in the woods to experience the rather anxious impression of going deeper and deeper into a limitless world" wrote Bachelard (The Poetics of Space). A place of enchantment or of meditation, perilous or protective by turns, the forest never ceases to be an inspiration to artists. And it is no coincidence that the 19th century witnessed the birth of photography and the birth of the Landscape as an art form in itself. 
The forest offers the advantages of the studio, but in real conditions, where we can take our time and learn to see. Around 1850, Henri Le Secq produced his "slices of nature" in Montmirail forest: negatives entirely without sky, highlighting the density of matter. Eugène Cuvelier photographed the forest of Fontainebleau, its undergrowth, its dead leaves and its small low walls. Also in Fontainebleau, Gustave Le Gray took shots which could require an exposure time of up to 20 minutes; "vegetation and all green objects in general necessitating a more considerable [exposure] time". In a rather metaphysical composition, he excelled in faithfully reproducing the various materials, from the grain in the rock to the thickness of the bark, with subtle contrasts in light and shade.
One hundred and fifty years later, Eric Poitevin photographed the forest with a flat light, without contrast, in a very head-on manner. The forest is "untitled", geographically unidentifiable, a deep universal forest. Unlike his predecessors giving short explicit titles to their photographs such as "Chailly, Biau or Bois-Préau"; Poitevin gives little importance to location 
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