© Arnaud Teicher from the series 'Wildfire'
Arnaud Teicher is one the finalist of Urbanautica Institute Awards 2019. His series 'Wildifire' was feature in the catalog of our annual awards. We are glad to share the conversation we had at the time with the French photographer.
Arnaud could you tell us about where you grow up. What kind of place it was? And then photography. How it all started? What are your memories of your first shots?
Arnaud Teicher (AT): I grew up in the south of France, in a little town near Toulon. It was a very calm area with a strong agricultural presence. My grandparents were peasants from Italy, they left the region of Piedmont in the early 20th century. I do not have many memories of my childhood in this region. My family and I often spent our vacations and weekends in the French southern Alps, where my grandfather had bought a little cottage. The cottage bordered Mercantour National Park and it was there where I first encountered mountains, fishing, hiking. I think that sparked my interest in the environment and landscape.
And then photography. How it all started? What are your memories of your first shots? What about your educational background?
AT: It was during 2001 or 2002 when my aunt had given me the old camera of my uncle who disappeared a few times earlier. It was a Konika Autoreflex T4, that I still use to this day. I started taking photos for pleasure, at this time I spent a lot of time skateboarding and it was photogenic stuff. Afterward, I discovered the work of the black and white lab, which was magical. I was completely captivated by seeing the image appear on the paper, also by the smell of the chemicals that nobody would be able to forget. There was also a Polaroid, an SX-70, that I took everywhere, we have probably over 1000 polaroid prints from this time in our house. I have always loved conserving photos, when I was a child my parents would often show us old photo slides during winter. This could be what I retain of my childhood.
© Arnaud Teicher from the series 'Wildfire'
I studied graphic design in Paris. It was during this period when I discovered art. Every week we went to an exhibition about painting, sculpture, photography… it was a great period, everything was new for me. I was able to follow Guillaume Lebrun's photography course and I think that taking was a revelation for me. Before, I did not worry about « meaning » when I took photographs. It was at this period that I was first introduced to the idea of the « subject », to make a process of reflection about an idea and build a connection between her and the form.
What do you think about photography in the era of digital and social networking? How is the language evolving and impacting the daily life of people and communities in your opinion? Fast interconnections and instant sharing. How this is affecting your practice?
AT: At the start, I have been sensitive to the approach of overconsumption of images through social media. But, this quickly sent me into a vicious cycle where I always had to create images to please a “community,” I did not look for meaning in my photos anymore, it was about traveling to give an “exotic” feel to my photos, but in the end, it took away from what I wanted to say. On the other hand, I am very conscious that social media allows us to share our work, which facilitates encounters and exchanges for photographers. At the end of the day, social media is a symbol of our contemporary societies, we can't turn away from it, but we know that advancing in that direction was maybe not the best choice...
© Arnaud Teicher from the series 'Wildfire'
© Arnaud Teicher from the series 'Wildfire'
© Arnaud Teicher from the series 'Wildfire'
I think that the speed of communication could reduce our freedom of creation. One would look to fulfill an expectation from the outside instead of answering one’s own questions and thematics. For me, that philosophy has to lead me to topics in which I feel legitimate, of which I had witnessed regularly and where I ll able to put forth my own approach.
About your work now. How would you introduce yourself as an author or described your personal methodology?
AT: Well, it’s always difficult to answer this type of question. Photography works like an eye-opener, it’s a way of understanding life in a more complex way, each angle allows us to see a thing in a specific direction, it makes daily more exciting. It's as if the world is becoming a huge field of experimentation, each project is the opportunity for a new adventure that can allow us to learn more about something. I think it brings me some answers to build myself as somebody.
Can you introduce us to the series 'Wildfire' that was shortlisted for the catalog of 2019 Urbanautica Institute Awards? What are the basic motivations and assumptions of this project?
AT. "Wildfire" is the production of 2 years working on wildfires in the south of France. As a natural and fundamental element in the workings of a forest’s many ecosystems, fire nevertheless remains unexpected and hard to control, it can quickly become a danger for peoples. Wildfires are an important subject here in Provence, and more particularly all around the Mediterranean border. I went through these burned areas trying to understand what was happening under my feet, many of the answers are in nature, and his behavior face of the random could give us some answers.
© Catalog Urbanautica Institute Awards 2019
© Catalog Urbanautica Institute Awards 2019
© Catalog Urbanautica Institute Awards 2019
© Catalog Urbanautica Institute Awards 2019
The subject has become quite natural, as a photographer I have long wanted to work on a project that concerns the land where I live, I am passionate about the mountain and I will usually photograph this territory almost every month but it has become too difficult to wait for these moments. I wanted something about the Mediterranean environment, just after the house, where I could work every day, spend time here, and see the project moving day by day. Every summer, I see a lot of water-bombers passing over the house, one day, I came out of curiosity walking into a burned area just right next to the house. I stayed for several hours and I was completely stunned by what I saw, from the inside, it seemed even more impressive. The initial feeling of wonder baffled me. As soon as I got home, I started looking for information on the web about the different wildfires, and pretty quickly, I’ve listed all the wildfires specifications, date of departure, type of origin, burnt surface, type of vegetation... With more than 3,7 million acres of forest, the southeast of France itself represents 10% of the forest area of France. Its afforestation rate is close to 48%, this territory is by definition one of the most exposed to fires all over Europe. With more drought in the last two years, more than 1,300 fires starts have been recorded between 2016 and 2017. All of these challenges our relationship to nature, our position on massive urbanisation, and the way we use our land.
Your work raises a strong awareness of environmental issues. You wrote, «nature’s capacity to adapt in the face of such events should it not push us to understand and take hold of our environment with more care?». Is this a central topic in your personal exploration?
AT: Fires are a recurring topic in my region and especially all around the Mediterranean. The massive urbanisation that is linked to economic development and mass tourism has pushed construction closer and closer to forested areas, usually without regulation. All of this has brought around complicated situations. The relationship between needing to develop economically and respecting the land is a problem facing us today, we must reflect on the way we are using the land and we need to give meaning to our actions. We are in an era of culpability concerning our impact on the environment, we want to change the world, to create solutions to save our planet, but we are not able to acknowledge our past mistakes which make us make them again. Don’t we simply need to change our way of life?
© Arnaud Teicher from the series 'Wildfire'
© Arnaud Teicher from the series 'Wildfire'
© Arnaud Teicher from the series 'Wildfire'
How the choice of large format 4x5 inch affected your work?
AT: Working the "landscape" with a 4x5 inch view camera poses a challenge, with its weight and its volume, it is often troublesome to practice this discipline. However, I wanted to truly experiment with it. I wanted to see the different stages of reforestation, so, I methodically classified the wildfires over the last few years, this allowed me to know where and when I had to go for a shooting. Concretely, I observed areas that had been burned in a range from 2 years to 2 weeks. There were different features that I wanted to photograph, to give a surface scale by showing the burned areas in their entirety but also to take an interest in the details like the bark that resists or the exploding stone. All this fits very well with the use of this medium, working with a large-format camera requires a lengthy setup and allows me to deeply focus on each image. In a process of contemplation, it was important for me to indulge myself in nature, to take time to observe and provide a project that is the closest to reality.
© Arnaud Teicher from the series 'Wildfire'
Three books that you recommend...
AT: I just got a copy of Bilad es Sudan from French photographer Claude Iverné published by Xavier Barral. One of my favorite photo books. Le Garçon sauvage, favorite book by Italian writer Paolo Cognetti. Images de L'Himalaya, Paris Encyclopedie Alpina Illustrée, 1935. Illustrated with 38 plates of black and white photos by Italian photographer and mountaineer Vittorio Sella.
Images de L'Himalaya, Paris Encyclopedie Alpina Illustrée, 1935
Is there any show you’ve seen recently that you find inspiring?
AT: I went a few days ago to visit the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul de Vence near Nice (FR). A real museum in nature, the Maeght Foundation is an exceptional place that has one of the most important collections in Europe of paintings, sculptures, drawings and graphic works of the 20th century: Bonnard, Chagall, Giacometti, Léger, Miró… An incredible experience between art and nature.
What are you up to?
AT: I recently started a project about a mountain valley in the French Alps where two military planes crashed at the end of the second world war. This is the starting point of this project in which I list all the weird elements, be they physical, geological, and human. This led me to discover other "strange" facts such as an alleged "extraterrestrial" presence near the crash site of the two planes... Also, actually, I feel a certain fixation about the Sainte-Victoire mountain right next to my place of life. I look at her every day and she always looks different. I see at my evolved city through her and I understand a little bit more each day why the painter Paul Cezanne had made her his muse.
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