Biographie de la photographe Laurence Gallien à Saint Jean de Luz

Painting with light !

One day, a friend said to me “With your photographs, you capture the invisible”. Surprised I asked her why. She replied “You capture things that we do not see.”

Yes, the photographic act is, for me, a revelation of the moment, united with a profound sense of wonder.

My photographic approach is intuitive, aiming to free itself from an overly technical focus, allowing the camera to become my brush and light, a subtle oil.

Drawing inspiration from photography Masters such as Gustave Le Gray who captured the ocean's majesty with overwhelming emotional depth, or Long Chin San, and the finesse of his compositions. However my sensitivity also resonates with painters like Monet or Turner. I aspire to translate the magic play of light and colors, their vibrancies, akin to Hokusai capturing the grandeur and poetry of landscapes.

Focused on the theme of water & sky (developed over more than 20 years), in various collections I explore the infinite variations of light and time. I seek to distend them, stretch them, prolong them, approaching a pictorial language, thus bridging the worlds of photography and painting.

The photographs have not undergone collage, digital overlays, it is solely the play with light.

Through my vision I invite each person on a journey, a journey into the poetic symphony of the world. In what we perceive ordinary, lies the extraordinary.

It's not the world that I grasp,

It's the world that delights me

Laurence Gallien is a photographer born in 1964 in Rouen.

After traveling worldwide, from Easter Island to Alma Ata, from the United States she visited frequently during her youth to Russia and Ukraine where she lived longer, she decided in 1998 to settle in the Basque Country. .

From an early age Laurence Gallien, guided in her apprenticeship by an amateur photographer father, tirelessly captured the universe around her with her argentic camera. Although deeply committed, she will not immediately turn this passion into a profession. A course in international business, travels and painting enriched his artistic experiences without letting go of his camera. It took the encouragement of recognized artist friends to present her photographic work to the public in 2012, then to open her own gallery “L’îlot” in St Jean de Luz in 2017.

Laurence Gallien lives and works in Saint Jean de Luz, she draws her inspiration from nature, from her oceanic environment.

His photographs are represented throughout the world, in numerous private collections.