Dust

With “Dust”, Olivier explores the concept of the phoenix rising from the ashes.

The series is about rebirth, inspired by the artist’s rebirth after wandering from unrelated job to unrelated job for many years. Olivier originally tried using a smoke machine to create this visual effect of the reborn figure emerging into life, but in the end, actual ashes, from a chimney, proved to be the most effective choice. The resulting three hours of cleaning at the end of each shoot proved to be worth it, for the result was a series of incredibly dynamic and rather beautiful figure portraits.

Olivier Valsecchi

Born in France in 1979. He studied at ETPA Photography School, Toulouse, 2007.

Olivier produced music as a teenager, and became interested in photography after taking photos to illustrate his record sleeves. He spent 10 years simply producing self portraits for enjoyment and to develop his process, before enrolling at photography school to really hone his technique.

Olivier finds that his entire working process, from planning and constructing a series, to the moment of capturing an image, is based on his personal intuition. As if sprung from some unbridled unconsciousness, the photographs evoke death, birth, maternity and rebirth.

Awards: Winner: Hasselblad Masters 2012, Fine Art Category.
Grand Prix Photographie, 2009