Zabo ChabilanD
THE BLACK PROJECT
Série of 22 black on black portraits .
Analogue prints on linen mounted on stretchers..
90X90 cm and 50X50 cm. 1988-1992
At first, the eye perceives only a surface that is both full and empty, uniform,
as when it goes from light to dark. Gradually, the eye adapts and distinguishes one by one the distinctive features of a face until it grasps it in its entirety.
Here: renderings simulating the intermediate stage of vision of one of those portraits that cannot be reproduced reproduction.
as when it goes from light to dark. Gradually, the eye adapts and distinguishes one by one the distinctive features of a face until it grasps it in its entirety.
Here: renderings simulating the intermediate stage of vision of one of those portraits that cannot be reproduced reproduction.
It is with these ideas in mind that the viewer begins to detect disturbances of light breaking through the black surfaces, which on closer inspection reveal the faintest traces of a human face. Each image/object - the status is now ambiguous - 'contains' a face: disembodied, eyes closed, hovering somewhere behind the picture plane. The faces, though barely visible, register as photographic images, which, when matched with an overall three-dimensionality, give the works an unnerving human presence. But, like death masks, the faces betray no indication of an expressive life. We are left to consider them as relics whose physiognomic stories might be read more by anthropologists, or as abstract signs of a precarious human condition. Chabiland's simple and eloquent works have a spectral grace that seems at odds with a time when pain, trauma and visceral revelations of death are writ large in our collective consciousness - a time when death, both private and public, is considered fair game for advertisers. These are reverent, unsettling works, dark spaces where the emblems of the human spirit lie dormant, just out of reach.
David Chandler, Exhibition Manager, The Photographer's Gallery, London.
Texte in the catalog of the exhibition "Presence" 1993.
The Photographers’ Gallery, Londres 1993
Shadows that we perceive from the corner of our eye to the edge of our field of vision and that disappear as soon as we turn our head. Combinations of physical and mental elements in constant motion. Permanence of the individual. Identification. Transcendence of life experiences... In 1988, beginning with a sequential series of portraits, Zabo Chabiland initiated this quest - the human condition as an anthropological study.
The project: to confront the image of man with his diversity. The subjects are selected by physiognomic type (race, age, build) from the cosmopolitan streets of New York City. Models of humanity. Once in the studio, their faces and bodies are darkened. Their eyes are closed. An invitation to meditation. Subjectivity. Inner silence. Endless sessions. Laughter, joy, indifference, sadness, anger... all kinds of expressions are concealed. The colours of the face are solemn. The irrational is perceived by neutralising emotions. Only the features count. At the end of the process, the fundamental structures are developed on X-ray film without losing objectivity. Profiles and skin tones become tenuous under the black filter. An archaeology of the face, an extraordinary emission, the image remains in suspense.
The project: to confront the image of man with his diversity. The subjects are selected by physiognomic type (race, age, build) from the cosmopolitan streets of New York City. Models of humanity. Once in the studio, their faces and bodies are darkened. Their eyes are closed. An invitation to meditation. Subjectivity. Inner silence. Endless sessions. Laughter, joy, indifference, sadness, anger... all kinds of expressions are concealed. The colours of the face are solemn. The irrational is perceived by neutralising emotions. Only the features count. At the end of the process, the fundamental structures are developed on X-ray film without losing objectivity. Profiles and skin tones become tenuous under the black filter. An archaeology of the face, an extraordinary emission, the image remains in suspense.
Nicolas Cappan
Catalogue Identidades, Encontros da Imagem, 1998
Louis Schlumberger
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm + 90X90 cm. 1/1 1992
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm + 90X90 cm. 1/1 1992
Madeleine Schlumberger
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm + 90X90 cm. 1/1 1992
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm + 90X90 cm. 1/1 1992
Bara Fall
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 3/3 1992
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 3/3 1992
Auto-portrait
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 1/1 1992
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 1/1 1992
Lawrence Goldhuber
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 1/1 1992
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 1/1 1992
Charles David
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 1/1 1992
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 1/1 1992
Nestor Piredu
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 1/1 1992
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 1/1 1992
Maya Graffin
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 1/1 1992
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 1/1 1992
Madeleine Schlumberger
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
90X90 cm. 1/1 1992
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
90X90 cm. 1/1 1992
Auto-portrait
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 1/1 1992
Analogue print on linen mounted on a stretcher.
50X50 cm. 1/1 1992