Kauai

By Raoul Gatepin

“Raoul has succeeded in combining compositional complexity, conceptual sophistication and unpredictability into his own very personal style of photography. He’s one of the photographers whose work I always look forward to viewing, because I’m never quite sure what to expect from him.” – Hin Chua

Travel has played a central element in Raoul’s photography since he first picked up a camera in Katmandu in 2004.  His photographic journey started in earnest when he settled in Los Angeles in 2005.  He soon hit the streets working in the tradition of Meyerowitz, Winogrand and Eggleston. His worked evolved out of the street which led him to produce two solid bodies of work, L.A.mérique and pL.A.nes.

After two years in L.A., he’d had enough and made the voyage across country settling in Brooklyn. This transitional experience was documented in his ‘Subway Breeze’ series, which was his first real foray into black and white.  After settling in New York, his need to hit the road brought him to Mexico City. While many tourists return with a handful of photographs, not many will return with the type of essay Raoul did. The 27 photograph piece, Distrito perfectly demonstrates Raoul’s ability to focus his photographic skills on a subject over a short period of time.

This skill was again in full sight when he returned to his homeland of France. Over the course of a few weeks he traveled the countries ‘diagonal of emptiness’ with friend and fellow photographer Ben Roberts. The work culminated in ‘diagonale’ which shows Raoul’s signature eye for the slightly surreal in the most common of locations.

When the economy began to sour in 2007, Raoul had a germ of an idea. That idea culminated in 2010 with his project Piramid which at once appears to have nothing to do with the economic meltdown while at the same time being very much about it.

We’re excited to offer an exclusive image from Raoul’s latest travels to Hawaii.  This photograph of the lush Hawaiian vegetation, which is divided between the natural scene and the reflection in the window of an automobile demonstrates Raoul’s talent for spotting great light and creating photographic puzzles.  He says he has some ideas for a new project, which doesn’t surprise me. Traveling always seems to spark his imagination.

Print Type: Digital C-type

Print size: 8.5×11″ – Edition of 50 at $35 each
(Bonus – First five orders receive a copy of Photographs on the Brain Issue #1)

Print size: 16×20″ – Edition of 5 at $100 each
(Includes a copy of Photographs on the Brain Issue #1)

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