CAMILLE VIVIER, MONUMENT

The main characters of ‘Monument’ are magical candles that photographer Camille Vivier has been collecting for quite some time. These candles are originally used in macumba and santería religions, as well as voodoo rituals. 

Through her candles Vivier gives a new perspective to still life as a classical theme and while she lits them, she questions vanity, memory and the passage of time. Vivier isolates her anthropometric characters from their original intention, and in doing so she grants them autonomy, while enhancing their magical power. 

She characterises her images by the delicate use of light and shadow, with the candles themselves serving as the primary source of light. The candles are shown in various stages of burning, with wax dripping down the sides and flames flickering, and so movement is created in each image. 

The potential though fragile power that the candles hold, of fulfilling a wish once they’re burned, is captured. As a viewer you don’t see the ritual being fulfilled, but maybe the act of your gaze is enough, an act that ends with one photograph.