The Showcase: Vincent Fournier

 “The Showcase” is a weekly publication featuring a photographer that has caught our eye here at The F STOP. I’ve asked Vincent Fournier to answer a few questions about his Space Project photography series.

Where did you get the idea to create the Space Project series? What was your inspiration?

The Space Project started about 3 years ago, while I was photographing some sort of manufactured landscape for my Tour Operator project. I was in Hawaii making pictures of the Mauna Kea observatory which inspired me to start a project about landscape with observatories. I eventually decided to enlarge the project to the space centers around the world exploring the idea of man and space, whether we are
looking at the sky, whether we are going in the sky. This work is also linked to the book From the Earth to the Moon from Jules Vernes. This project is still in process and I need a lot of time to get access to the different centers. Though the first part of the work has been shown in international galleries and magazines, it is in progress and aiming to be an archive of the most representative space organizations in the world.

I believe that this project came from the experience, that we all have, whilst looking at the stars during our childhood, when we suddenly realize the infinity of the universe, and that we are (a small) part of it. It is about the unseen and mystery of the universe. This experience is a sort of initiation ritual. It gives you a sense of the finished and unfinished, and the feeling of the rhythm of time by looking at the
movements of the planets. I still remember this experience like something very physical that has changed something for me. It was very intense but comfortable at the same time, like a reconciliation with the sky and the earth.

The perception of the cosmos is also interesting when we compare the Russians with  the Americans or Europeans. The Russians had a very religious idea of the cosmos, it is almost like God, mystical. In the city of Tcheboksari you can see a church that is designed like a Vostock. Every time they are launching some cosmonauts in space, they have a priest come to baptize them. The cosmos is a religious space, calm and organized. For the Americans, the idea of space is more technical, very complex almost like chaos, something that needs to be organized, to be understood. We can see this difference in the two opposite movies Solaris by Andrei Tarkovskij and 2001, A Space Odysey by Stanley Kubrick. In my photography this comparison is in between Star City and Kourou.

How did you gain access to the people and facilities ?

I had been doing a lot of research and location scouting, especially through the internet, when I first discovered the Mars Society, in charge of the Mars Desert Research Station. I realized the potential of an aesthetic documentary of this Martian landscape with human figures wearing space suits. I knew it was something I wanted to photograph. I became a member of the French “Planète Mars” and eventually after a year, got the authorization to photograph. The MDRS is supported by the NASA and the goal is to simulate life on Mars in order to improve our knowledge for future trips to the planet. These people are researchers in all sort of disciplines, like biology or psychology and are usually studying for a week in this Mars-like environment.

Was it documentary or did you set-up some of the images ? 

My work is always based on documentary but, on this instance, I was aiming to be almost like a painter, with the same approach in terms of composition and color. I was working with very realistic material because all situations I was photographing were real. I have, however, consciously organized my composition and chosen all elements within the frame: location, people and direction, light, clothes etc. In this sense, theses images are staged documentary, so I can control the outcome unlike some of my past reportage work.

You were exposed to things that most people never get to see, what was the most impressive part of your experience creating these images ?

It was quite a challenge to get access to all these space facilities. I guess you feel like you are part of the unknown, of the mystery… but you realize that afterward because after  struggling so much to get access, once you are on location you only focus on your work in order to make the most of it, then when the work is done and you are happy about it you realize where you have been and what you have done. Maybe the Star City near Moscow was one of the most impressive, also because you feel like you are in a movie from Tarkovski. History of space exploration is strongly linked to the army. I grew up in the seventies, when space research was still the symbol of achievement for developed countries. With the end of the cold war, space research is no longer the priority for states. The future of space exploration is now more connected to the emerging space tourism and sub-orbital flight. But tourism might be another way of domination too.

How did people respond to you throughout your time there? Were they encouraging? How have people responded to these images ?

Regarding the art world I am now working with galleries in Paris, Milan, Tokyo, New York and soon London. The press is also very good with publication in magazine from Moscow, Shanghai, Spain, Italy, UK, France, Germany, Holland.