Mathilde Oscar was born in Paris in 1980, and lives and works in Cannes.
She is a multifaceted artist whose artistic evolution is as fascinating as it is diverse. Her artistic journey is an odyssey that fuses a passion for painting, in-depth study of art history, graphic design and photography, ultimately giving birth to a singular visual language.
In the beginning, Mathilde Oscar explored the intricacies of painting, a medium that captured her heart and mind. This period was an enriching exploration of creativity, shaping her artistic perception. Art history became her ally, offering her a deep understanding of the classic masters of past centuries.
Over the years, Mathilde broadened her creative horizon to immerse herself in the world of graphic design. This immersion was a transformative period in which she honed her mastery of shapes, colors and visual compositions. However, it was only the prelude to a more significant metamorphosis.
In 2013, self-taught, she chose photography as a means of expression, offering a new canvas for her pictorial ideas, deeply rooted in artistic movements from the
Renaissance to Neo-Classicism.
In her photographs, Mathilde Oscar succeeds in capturing a striking atmosphere, giving her works an almost quasi-pictorial quality to her work. Her creative process frequently involves the meticulous fabrication of sets, costumes and props, although some of her inspirations can consist of digital elements that harmonize with her photographic composition.
What really sets Mathilde apart is her talent for interweaving the codes of classical painting with contemporary photography and pop culture. Her portraits are often anachronistic and offbeat conventions that seem suspended in an elusive space-time, while at the same time abounding in subtle references to art history.
Her artistic universe is one of great variety: sometimes romantic, sometimes imbued with surrealismmarked by a subtle dash of humor. The characters she captures become timeless icons, while her female portraits take on a Madonna-like aura, and her male figures (which she takes pleasure in reinventing as feminine) seem to revisit Christ-like archetypes.
In short, Mathilde Oscar is an artist who transcends artistic boundaries, fusing past and present painting and photography, to create a captivating visual world.
Dina Goldstein's artistic journey spans over three decades, beginning as a photojournalist and eventually evolving into an independent artist with a focus on elaborate narrative photography. Her work is a testament to her intricate social commentary, blending cultural archetypes and collective imagery with narratives rooted in the human experience. Drawing from surrealism, Dina constructs compositions that lay bare the underbelly of contemporary life, challenging prevailing cultural influences and deep-seated belief systems.
In 2007, Dina Goldstein embarked on a specific journey, fueled by personal experiences and a critical view of the "happily ever after" narrative perpetuated by Disney and embraced by Western society. As a feminist and new mother, she took issue with the stereotypical portrayals of women and girls in Disney's stories. Her series "Fallen Princesses" (2007-2009) features humanized fairy tale princesses confronting modern-day challenges like cancer, addiction, obesity, war, and environmental degradation. This poignant work earned her the Prix Virginia in 2014, an international prize for women photographers, and led to exhibitions in Paris, Quebec and in the United States.
Dina's subsequent project, "In The Dollhouse" (2012), unfolds within an intricately conceptualized, life-sized dollhouse inhabited by human Barbie and Ken dolls. In this alternative reality, Barbie undergoes a transformation by cutting her iconic blond locks, while Ken embarks on a journey of self-discovery. The series sparks discussions about unattainable beauty ideals, the myth of perfection, and the relationship between beauty, power, and happiness. "In The Dollhouse" has been widely exhibited, including a feature in the Musee D'Orsay's Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera catalog and inclusion in the FotoMuseo collection in Colombia.
Her ambitious project "Gods Of Suburbia" (2014) delves into the world of established and fringe religions. Deities from various traditions are portrayed as mortal, adapting to the challenges of modern life. By offering an iconoclastic interpretation of how ancient belief systems intersect with modernity's pillars—technology, science, and secularism—Dina's surreal creations prompt viewers to contemplate the relevance of ancient ethics and enduring belief systems. The series has been exhibited internationally, with "The Last Supper" finding particular resonance in Italy.
The young French photographer Manon Deck-Sablon was born in 1995 in Saint-Cloud and grew up in the south of France. She began her studies at the Montpellier School of Architecture, before completing them at the Versailles Landscape School in 2020.
Through her photographs, she explores the sensibility acquired in her training as a landscape architect and architect to stage encounters between bodies and their environment. Naked, anonymous, faceless, desexualized, non-gendered bodies, with flesh as their material, are deployed in space, creating absurd, poetic situations. Here, the models lose their identity, whether female, male or non-binary, and become nothing more than abstract, disarticulated forms interacting with each other or with the solids and voids of their environment.
Although she has only recently begun her photographic career, Manon Deck-Sablon's work has already attracted attention, and she has shown some of her work in group photographic exhibitions in Milan and Paris, solo exhibitions at architecture festivals, and in publications in art magazines such as Acumen, and architecture and society magazines such as Polygone and Figures.
She is often compared, both in approach and style, to the American artist Spencer Tunick, but playing instead with the geometric composition of a smaller number of models.
French photographer Louis Blanc was born in 1956 and has been living in Toulouse for over a decade. Blanc was never formally educated in photography and mastered his technique entirely himself. He would post his work in photography forums and enter contests. From the 1980’s to the 2000’s he experimented with different cameras including a Minolta and a digital compact. After spending some time perfecting his craft, and gaining vast experience, he decided to upgrade with an SLR in 2010. With his new equipment, he was able to hone in on his primary interests and birthed his project CORpuS in 2011.
The idea for this series came to him after winning a competition on a forum. CORpuS was an enlightening experience for Blanc, as he came to realize the image of the body was something that evoked a lot of emotion and deep thought. As we can see, the images from CORpuS, bear a neutral background, because the contorted body is more than enough to summon conviction.
Blanc’s artistic process begins with an unrefined idea, a bit like a brainstorm, but the end result is the culmination of many shots and redirections, making it intentional and unplanned at the same time. In addition, Blanc doesn’t avoid placing the body in disturbing poses. Actually, most of the images in CORpuS, push the boundaries of the human body. The images were made of himself, using a self-timer and remote control.
Louis Blanc has been emerging in the photography world for the past decade, and his work doesn’t come without praise. In 2014, he joined the community of artists supported by Maecene Arts. The CORpuS series became well-known all over France, being published in numerous magazines including La Provence and Réponses Photo. Over the years, this series has been a part of 40+ exhibitions internationally, including France, Russia, New York, Japan, Italy and Prague. He was also published in Monaco’s Monaco Culture and Switzerland’s Geneva Tribune. It goes without saying that the world should keep an eye out for what Louis Blanc will do next.
American artist and photographer Brooke Shaden spent years delving into the duality of human nature in her work. Born in 1987, Shaden has become one of the most well-known photographers in modern art. She’s recognized by her conceptual images where she puts herself in settings that feel like an imaginary world. After finishing college in 2008, and deciding to explore her passion of storytelling, she began to probe her inner darkness and confront the fears of her intense childhood imagination.
Mainly a self-portrait artist, Brooke doesn’t shy away from photographing others as well. Many of her photographs evoke a sense of epiphany in an unfamiliar place. It’s easy to feel connected to her images as they embody personal exploration and encapsulate themes of darkness and light. She aims to show others a quintessential part of themselves that might’ve been lurking in the shadows prior. With this, she considers herself leaning more toward discovery than creation.
Shaden studied film all throughout college in Pennsylvania near to where she grew up. She was merely 25 years old when she became a part of PhotoVogue Italia’s group exhibition “101 Best Photos” in 2012. Over the years, she has amassed 18 conceptual awards for her work and has been a part of 80+ group and solo exhibitions all over America and Europe, with her very first exhibition in 2009.
As previously noted, Brooke’s unyielding passion is storytelling, and she continues to produce portraits in addition to writing and giving motivational speeches. She also allows us to look deeper into her process both mentally and physically, in her blog named “Promoting Passion”. She seeks to lead a multitude of lives with her curiosity serving as a perpetual fire of inspiration.
Arnaud Baumann, French portrait photographer and videographer, was born in 1953 and left an indelible mark on the world of photography. His career began alongside photographer Xavier Lambours, with whom he had the opportunity to capture unique and intimate moments by photographing the behind the scenes, hysterics and editorial conferences of Hara Kiri and Charlie Hebdo magazines. This experience marked the start of a promising career.
Over the years, Baumann has been published in renowned magazines such as Hara Kiri, Libération, Le Nouvel Observateur, Télérama, VSD, Paris Match and Géo, thus demonstrating his talent and versatility as a photographer.
During one of the key periods of his career, from 1978 to 1983, Baumann immortalized the evenings at Fabrice Emaer's "Palace". Through his photographs, he captures the very essence of these extravagant evenings, immersing us in the electric and liberated atmosphere of a bygone era.
Baumann devotes a large part of his career to portraiture, becoming a master in the art of revealing the essence of well-known personalities and cultural actors. His portraits are imbued with depth and sensitivity, to the point of capturing the soul of his subjects.
Throughout his career, Baumann reinvented his style while remaining faithful to what makes him a generational photographer. His process rethinks the links between the structure of his vision and the reality that surrounds it. His photographs are recognizable by their precise framing, precise colors and always mastered compositions.