Olivier Roller
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Olivier Roller (born 1972 in Strasbourg), is a French photographer based in Paris. Specialized in photographic portraits, he is creating, since 2009, a photographic fresco about figures of power, portraits of the "emperors of today", which he confronts to the faces of the past, from antiquity to Napoleon.
Biography[]
After political sciences and law studies in Strasbourg, Olivier Roller becomes photographer.
He describes the power and influence in France, in this beginning of 21st century, by the individuals who compose them : ministers, financials, advertisers, medias leaders…
If the power is immutable, men of power are friable. […] What is photographed is a changing power, pending, maybe disappearing. […] The power is that dream to challenge time, knowing that time will be stronger. […] The men of power knows what he lost
— Olivier Roller
The beginnings[]
Olivier's first portrait is one of his grandfather in 1994, in a very tight frame and devoid of artifices, with already the urge to go beyond the clichés of the portrait: smile, stand straight, be beautiful.
Still a student, he finally turned to photography, with which he found his language and a new means of communication. He needed faces, which is why he went to meet many writers and filmmakers who promoted their work in bookstores and venues. The press subsequently promptly gives him assignments.
Jeanne Moreau[]
This portrait, made in December 2005, is the first that he realizes for him, out of any assignment. He followed Jeanne Moreau at a film festival in Belgium. Back in Paris, he asks if he can photograph her "for nothing". He wants to move away from assignments, where the model is in a communication logic. At the end of the session, he realizes his first self-portrait, sticking his face to that of the actress. This photograph is now the cover of the book Visage by Bruno Chibane, gathering 20 years of portraits of assignments of Olivier Roller.
Figures of power[]
In 2008, the Musée du Louvre gave him a carte blanche in the following terms "would you like to work on the equivalent of Sarkozy (French president) and Fillon (Sarkozy' prime minister), 2000 years ago ?". He will spend 6 months, every Tuesday (public closure’ day), all alone in the gallery of Antiques.
From the following year, he set out to confront the faces of today's "emperors" (financiers, publicists, intellectuals, diplomats, politicians ...) with their counterparts of the past (from the Roman emperors to Napoleon). This project is still in progress.
He contacts the men of power, proposes to them to come to make a portrait in his studio, and to become a face hanging on the wall of an exhibition.
He makes contemporaries and, sometimes, alive these pieces of sculpted stone where each break or scratch is the mirror of our fragilities.
The influence of surfing[]
In the collective book West is the Best, Olivier Roller speaks about his surfing practice, that he compares to photography.
Being in the ocean, in the middle of the waves, allows him not to think, just to be present. He describes this practice as "a symbolic vehicle for advancement," and explains that surfing has allowed him "to reach a certain animality" and "reconnects with reality". As in his photographic practice, Olivier Roller explains that he loves the shifting, unpredictable and even disappointing side of the practice. He compares photography to the ocean, who "has nothing against you, but you will never be able to dominate him, you just have to be humble."
Exhibitions[]
- 2017-2018 : Musée du Louvre, « Théâtre du Pouvoir » septembre 2017 à juillet 2018[1]
- 2017 : Centre des monuments nationaux, château d'Angers, installation La Cathédrale de fil
- 2017 : Maison européenne de la photographie, acquisitions récentes - Paris
- 2016 : Palazzo Al-Temps / musées nationaux romains, Rome [2]
- 2016 : « Les larmes de la terre », The Temple (Pékin), Banpo (Xi-An), Changsha, Dunhuang - Chine[3]
- 2015 : « Oser la photographie », musée Réattu, Arles [4]
- 2015 : « Carte blanche à Olivier Roller », Mobilier national, musée des Gobelins, Paris[5]
- 2015 : « Aller Dehors », La Criée, centre d’art contemporain, Rennes[6]
- 2014 « Figure di potere », Spazionuovo, Rome
- 2014 « Lumières », musée Cognacq-Jay, carte blanche à Christian Lacroix, Paris[7]
- 2013 : « Mon île de Montmajour », abbaye de Montmajour, centre des monuments nationaux commissariat Christian Lacroix, Arles[8]
- 2013 « Rodin, la lumière de l’antique », musée de l'Arles antique, Arles
- 2010-2013 « Figures du pouvoir 1 », exposé à :
- La Filature, Mulhouse[9]
- Musée des Moulages, Lyon[10]
- MIA Art Fair, Milan
- Villa Aurélienne, Fréjus[11]
- SpazioNuovo, Rome, festival Foto Roma[12]
- Festival Fotoleggendo, Rome[13]
- Grange de Dorigny, Lausanne & participation au colloque universitaire « Le visage dans tous ses états »[14]
- Musée de la photographie André Villers, Mougins[15]
- Institut culturel de Fukuoka (Japon)[16]
- Institut franco-japonais, Tokyo[17]
Publications[]
- Années 2010
- 2016 : Nefta[18] - Éditions de l'Air, des livres.[19] Photographies prises dans les environs de Nefta dans le desert Tunisien, lieu de tournage des premiers Star Wars. ISBN 978-2-9526699-5-5
- 2015 : Visage mis à nu - Regard sur 20 ans de portraits - 304 pages - 200 portraits[20]. Sous la direction de Bruno Chibane. Contributions ou interviews de Rodolphe Burger, Jean-Claude Brisseau, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Christophe Donner, Clara Dupont-Monod, Mike Hodges, Julia Kerninon, André S. Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy, Nathalie Quintane... Chic Média Éditeur ISBN 978-2-9544852-0-1
- 2011 : 10 MAI 81, une journée particulière,[21] accompagnée de textes d'Emmanuel Lemieux, Bourin Éditeur ISBN 978-2-84941-231-2
- Années 2000
- 2007 : Face(s),[22] 31 écrivains réagissent au portrait qu'Olivier Roller a fait d'eux, éditions Argol ISBN 978-2-91597-821-6
- 2005 : Clarita's Way[23] (bilingue français - anglais), exergue de Gertrude Stein, postface de Clara Dupont-Monod, traduction de Philippe Aronson, L'opossum Éditions ISBN 978-295209-420-7
- 2002 : Aperghis, kaléidoscope d'une résidence, textes d'Isabelle Freyburger, Jempresse Éditions & Desmaret ISBN 978-291367-523-0
References[]
- ^ "Exposition - Théâtre du pouvoir - Petite Galerie | Musée du Louvre | Paris". 2017-05-17. Retrieved 2017-06-21..
- ^ "Exposition de photos d'Olivier Roller – Palazzo Altemps – Spazio Nuovo |". www.nuovimecenati.org (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ "Le festival Croisements va de l'avant !". La France en Chine (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Multimedia, Pôle Sud Production. "Oser la photographie : 50 ans d'une collection d'avant garde à Arles". www.museereattu.arles.fr. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ "Mobilier national : Expositions / Expositions précédentes". www.mobiliernational.culture.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ "a l l e r dehors - La criée". www.criee.org (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ "Visions des Lumières Musée Cognacq-Jay". Artscape (in French). 20 February 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- ^ "Mon ile de montmajour".
- ^ Alsace20 (2013-09-16). "Expo "Figures du pouvoir" à La Filature". Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ "Photographie olivier roller figures du pouvoir au muse 769 e des moulages lyon 3e - - Tribune de Lyon". www.tribunedelyon.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ "Portraits photographique du pouvoir et de l'influence par Olivier Roller | Actuphoto". fr.actuphoto.com (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Spazio Nuovo (2013-04-25). "Olivier Roller - Spazio Nuovo Gallery, Rome - 2013". Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ "ISFCI & FotoLeggendo presentano 'Figures du pouvoir' di Olivier Roller". ISFCI BLOG (in Italian). 21 September 2011. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- ^ "Figures du Pouvoir - GDD". www.grangededorigny.ch (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ "Empereurs romains et autres figures du pouvoir au Musée […] - Art Côte d'Azur". www.artcotedazur.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ "Exposition d'Olivier Roller Figures du Pouvoir, portraits d'Olivier Roller". fukuoka-fr.blogspot.fr. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ "Interview d'Olivier Roller | NEON Magazine". neon.color-lounge.com (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ "Nefta".
- ^ "de l'air, des livres – de l'air, le magazine qui donne à voir". www.delair.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ "Face(s)".
- ^ "olivier roller photographer - mai 1981". www.olivierroller.com. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- ^ https://www.olivierroller.com/pages/faces.html
- ^ "olivier roller photographer - clarita's way". www.olivierroller.com. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
External links[]
- French photographers
- 1972 births
- Living people