Eric Bourret

Born in 1964 in Paris, Éric Bourret lives and works in the South of France and in the Himalayas. His work as an “artist-walker” participates in the tradition of Land Art and land surveying photography. Since the early 1990s, he has been traveling the world on foot, hiking over all kinds of terrains and at all altitudes, shooting photographs that he refers to as “experiences of walking, experiences of the visible”. His photographs evidence the deep physical and sensory transformations that the act of walking over long distances triggers, as it heightens perception and receptiveness to the surrounding landscape.

During his walks, which last from a few days to several months, the artist superimposes different views of the same landscape on a single negative, according to a precise protocol that stipulates the number of shots and the intervals between them. These sequences intensify and accelerate the imperceptible movement of geological strata and freeze the ephemeral temporality of human beings. Accident and the unexpected are an integral part of this concept of random photography. This photographic ephemeris breaks down the structure of the initial image and creates another sensitive, moving reality. The image created by this ‘temporal stratification’ is vibrant, oscillating almost animated. Éric Bourret’s images can be seen as photographic notes in a surveyor’s score. They bear witness to a subjective experience, as he himself admits: “The landscapes I cross and that cross me constitute me. The more factual series include the date, place, duration and distance travelled, reflecting the rhythm and space of this walking log. (carnet de marche).

Since 1990, his work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions and has entered the collections of many museums and art centers in Europe, North and South America and Africa, including in particular the Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki; the Museum of Contemporary Art of Tamaulipas in Mexico; the Museum of Photography in Helsinki; the Museum of Contemporary Art of Tamaulipas in Mexico; the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain in Nice; the Musée Picasso in Antibes; the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris.

From 2015- 24, he took part in several group and solo exhibitions*: 56^th Venice Biennale, Italy; Joburg Contemporary African Art; Shenzhen Art Museum, China*; l’Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux; Sapar Contemporary, New York*; Xie Zilong Art Museum XPM, Chine* le Centre de la Vieille Charité, Marseille*; le Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire*; le MuMA Musée d’art moderne André Maraux, le Havre.