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This portfolio, the eighth work in the Five Elements collection, is a compilation of original photographs.
The Provence featured here is vegetable, mineral and aquatic. Each of these six photographs evokes Wood, Earth and Water, throughout the seasons.
This Provence is bounteous in the springtime, in Luberon, where poppies twirl around vines nestling along the edge of cornfields.
As summer draws to an end, its glimmer is reflected in the leaves of olive trees in the Pays de Sault.
Bathed in autumn light, it is mineral, almost lunar, in the Ubaye valley – its northernmost tip. But it is also majestic and sacred in winter, in the Pays d’Aix, with its illustrious Sainte Victoire Mountain.
From the top of the spectacular Cap Canaille, the sparkling waters of the Mediterranean, the perfect embodiment of Water in Provence, are simply dazzling.
But this sea can become more subtle and poetic in the Camargue marshes, where pink flamingos abound.
While no human presence can be seen on these photographs , it is nevertheless conjured up in the graphics of the “parchment” papers. It is by way of certain prominent symbols of Provençal culture embodying Wood, Earth and Water that we find a trace of humankind and its influence on these natural elements. The latter are translated here into the Provençal dialects spoken in the regions depicted: Rhodanien, Maritime and Gavot.
35x45cm portfolio. 28x38cm plate. Edition limited to 999 examples.
Claire Xuan. Provence. Éléments d’édition. 2006. 320 € tax inclusive. VAT: 5.5%.
Small presentation display box and large portfolio plate are available on request.
