sans nom 1 2008 / 2010

White wilderness, glaciers, infinite ice. Glistening clarity, as far as the
eye can see. Space, time, everything that usually offers orientation
here slides out into infinity, limitless, sublime. “For me,” says Jean de
Pomereu, “the Antarctic remains an object of visual and intellectual
fascination.”

He first saw the endless white expanse of the southern continent with
his own eyes in 2003. Since then the photographer and polar
researcher has not been able to let go of the Antarctic. The “icy
tranquility,” the “ear-piercing silence,” de Pomereu later wrote in his
texts, made a deep impression on him. Escaping the fast pace of our
times, one’s sense of perception is aligned anew. The photographer
captures what is important to him. He captures Antarctica’s
unequaled light in his images. The sensual experience so present in
the act of taking a picture here mixes with the distanced gaze of the
researcher.

Both perspectives determine and yet augment the other.
The power of de Pomereu’s photographs comes from their focus on
the details. The beauty of simplicity finds expression exactly in this
limitation. The series Frozen Midnight Sea, Contours of Silence, and
A Topography of Absence show a terrain in constantly new nuances.
These images are a commitment. They celebrate the Antarctic
without being sentimental. De Pomereu’s position is evident in his
reserved aesthetic where “less is more.” The lens trusts
emotionlessly in the gesture of a corrugated ice block or the effect of
an icy silhouette before a very bright background.

These images are more than documentation. They accompany a
man’s process of intensive research, publishing, and teaching. It is
clear that this is more than just a mission. In 2006 he joined the
largest artistic project in Antarctica, Stellar Axis Antarctica by land
artist Lita Albuquerque, resulting in a photo series of the same name.

The limited-edition platinum print and color photographs by the
renowned polar researcher have been exhibited worldwide.

Almut Andreae