Beyond black
Outrenoir. Invented by the French painter Pierre Soulages by combining the words “outre” and “noir”, translates best as beyond black. As he was getting stuck on a painting, Soulages decided there was no point in continuing and went to sleep. Confronted with his painting the next day, he noticed that he was no longer working with black per se, but with the light that bounced off of various states of black surface.
To a photographer, black often is the absence of light. But what Soulages must have discovered was that the textures of the black and the shades next to it, give black intriguing qualities of its own. As he told France Info during an interview, “you put black next to a dark tone and suddenly this dark tone lights up”. A whole world opened to him, beyond black, resulting in a large body of work exploring all the qualities of this mysterious “colour”.
I had the chance to visit the Musée Soulages (Pierre Soulages Museum) in Rodez, France. Immense spaces holding his gigantic works. For someone like me who loves textures, studying all the different ways in which he made black appear was a true joy. Some exhibitions are the opportunity of a lifetime and continue to inspire you forever, this was one of those exhibitions.
I’m bringing up Soulages because I was in the South of France last week where I’m working on my next big thing so to speak. After Black Holes, Sunday Mornings in Paris and Waterland, I’m gradually introducing Memories. A work mainly inspired by my summers in France, and Camus’ novels and theater plays that I’d read during them. But there’s more at play here than Camus.
The essence of things, that which subconsciously moves us, is built up of various elements. I’ve referred to some of them in my earlier writings; rhythm and contrast finding expression through texture and tonality. In his exploration of the world beyond black, Soulages touches upon all of these more or less objectively quantifiable aspects of art.
But what is the universe of art without us human beings to reflect upon it, to interact with it? That’s where another big inspiration of mine comes in: Lucien Clergue. The way he can capture reed sticking out of the swamps south of Arles reminds me of everything I found beautiful when I was young. Quiet, solemn, but so full of truth and therefore all the more powerful.
Where a painter might bring into the world something undeniable, one might even say, objective, the photographer always brings with their creation, the subjective, human aspect. That of the observer, the person that was there to experience the scene that gave birth to the image. The photograph as a testimony to life. This remains for me, the most mesmerizing part of photography.
Together with Camus’ humanism and love of the Mediterranean climate, Clergue and Soulages complete the list of inspirational artists for my current work in progress. Clergue for me is in images what Camus is in text. Soulages completes the picture so to speak, by adding such a profound study of texture, an element I deem to be of utmost importance for anything bearing truth.
Whereas the work I’ve already created for this project over the past two years includes elements of all three artists, I decided to take a small sidestep and do a short texture and contrast study focused on Soulages’ beyond black. The idea is that this will help me further shape the project going forward.
The results of this study are enclosed for you to see. It took a little getting used to, not working with a model, but very quickly I rediscovered the pleasure of quietly working by oneself that had marked my earlier photography years.
I find the sometimes oily textures of the dark tones quite beautiful and the interplay of water and light waves captivating. I might redo a few similar shots with models, while also looking into various printing techniques to see if the near abstraction can be taken further.
To cover the cost of the test prints and to avoid throwing away decent prints just because they’re not the end product yet, I’m offering them at near cost-price through my webshop. These will be A3 sized, signed and marked as test prints.
Further reading:
Musée Pierre Soulages: https://musee-soulages-rodez.fr/
Lucien Clergue: https://lucien-clergue.com/
Albert Camus: https://www.gallimard.fr/en-savoir-plus-sur-albert-camus