Memories of a Silent World
The Memories of a Silent World series is inspired by Boulevard du Temple, a photograph taken in 1838 by Louis Daguerre, inventor of the daguerreotype process of photography. While contemporary photographs are taken in a fraction of a second, this duo returns to the long exposure time which proved a familiar constraint in the early days of photography. This means that all moving elements are too fleeting to be captured and hence disappear in the process. Simon Brodbeck and Lucie de Barbuat photograph emblematic views of Paris, New York, Rome and Beijing, with practically nobody in sight. They remove the usual frenzy from the famous places and roads of these great metropolises and add just one human figure digitally to disturb the void. This presents a strange timeless world that exudes a sense of peace and solitude. Although this series was compiled in 2010, the events of spring 2020 now make it somewhat prophetic.
