From the late 1950s,
Bernd and Hilla Becher initiated a photographic inventory of the architectural heritage
from the industrial era, then marked by obsolescence and destined for disappearance. Their photographs,
perfectly neutral due to their adherence to a systematic protocol, unveil the formal variations among the
buildings photographed (blast furnaces, gas holders, water towers, etc.), which they refer to as ‘Anonymous
Sculptures’.
In resonance with their work, the 'Erased' series actualizes a process of erasure operating here at an earlier
stage. Focusing on blue water towers against clear skies, captured frontally in direct sunlight, these images
reveal only evanescent outlines. In this way, they symbolize the paradigm shift at play in the post-industrial
society which now strives to conceal its underlying material infrastructures. This is particularly true for the
physical structures at the core of the digital world (data centers, undersea cables, rare earth mines, etc.),
perpetuating the myth of the immateriality of digital images and files.
This series is part of a larger body of work initiated in 2019, titled ‘Palimpsests’. This term refers to a
parchment where the original writing has been erased to make way for a new text, with the initial text
remaining however partly visible by transparency. Indeed this project take the form of contemporary
rewritings of iconic works from the history of photography, translated into the new context of digital society.
Initiating a dialogue with techniques and theories of the past, they offer a reflection about the concept of
post-photography and question the evolution of the medium in the era of its alleged disappearance.
Tommy Goguely
Born in 1984, Tommy Goguely lives and works in Bordeaux. A graduate in fundamental physics and holder
of a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering, he started photography as a self-taught amateur. After a
three-year course at the Bordeaux Fine Arts School, he redirected his practice towards works with more
conceptual influences.
Inspired by photography theories, his approach aims to fuel the reflections about the medium and more
specifically its evolution at the phase transition to digital, with the underlying hypothesis of an ontological
identity between analog and digital photography. His work thus revolves around two main axes, which
sometimes intersect : on one hand, an experimental approach involving playing with the image production
process, breaking the established technical rules so as to explore the materiality of the photographic
medium ; on the other hand, reinterpretations of iconic works from the history of photography, transposed
into the new context of the digital society, thus symbolically illustrating the theoretical continuity of the
medium over the course of the digital transition.
tommygoguely.com
@tommygoguely
