In Benoît Fougeirol’s photographs, in the midst of the abandonment, something imposes itself, becomes alive, despite the emptiness… “Landscapes of ruins, or ruins of landscape” to borrow Jean-Paul Robert’s poetic term, Benoit Fougeirol’s photographic works raise the question of the boundaries between architecture and nature, civilization and abandonment, myth and reality. Desolate, abandoned architectures, yet with a vibrant presence. A lot of wild vegetation too, thriving and exploding everywhere, freely. Without the slightest theatricality, and with great sobriety and mastery, Benoît Fougeirol lets us glimpse the possibilit y of a new living order of things, even, and perhaps especially, of the most forgotten things. Born in 1962, photographer and artist Benoît Fougeirol lives and works in and around Paris. For some years now he has been exploring the uncertain zones of the city limits, collecting images. At once topographic and poetic, his approach captures the unsuspected, silent wealth of this space where greenery meets asphalt. The results can be seen in the book AUTOUR / AROUND (éditions vmcf, 2010). Since then, he has concentrated on the so-called “sensitive” areas of the city. He has under taken a methodical inventory of these territories whose reality exceeds or belies the simple clichés pasted over it. His works are part of numerous private and public collections, including the Musée Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain; the New York Public Library, USA; Musée Carnavalet in Paris, France and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
