Thierry Gourjon-Bieltvedt
Fascinated at an early age by the photographic medium and its ability to either document the world or transform it into a new representation, Thierry Gourjon-Bieltvedt, a French born photographer with family ties to Iceland and Norway. Artist, editorial photographer, photo editor and professor for the past twenty years, he has combined freelancing, teaching and pursuing personal projects. Visual language, perception, design and beauty are his primary interests.
Artist Statement
“Tall Figures” is an exploration of commercialized seduction on an urban scale. It is a phenomenon seemingly localized to Soho in its density and scale. No where else in the city does one find such a high number of mostly fashion oriented ad hoc billboards. These are the same pictures found in any self respecting fashion magazine, just revisited through their gigantic size. The pages are replaced by building facades, turning them into place holders, frames for the photographs.
Billboards are a common site in most urban areas. In Manhattan, just foray up to Time Square to witness the seizure inducing array of mammoths LED billboards, draping the surrounding equally imposing buildings. Travel downtown to Soho and you will encounter another type of oversized displays, particular to that neighborhood. “They” are watching us, manufactured modern muses look down upon us. Tall and slender, they rival the buildings upon which they rest. Sex and seduction on a truly grand scale. The difference with Time Square is that here, they have mostly been improvised. They hang or are painted on the sides of buildings never originally intended for such use. The printed ones often have cut outs to uncover the windows that they would otherwise block.
Over the past ten years or so, this trend has grown at an exponential rate and shows no sign of slowing down. Since size does seem to matter after all, it gives those pictures a mythical presence. You are to buy into the dream, so prominently presented to you.
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