As Far As I Could Get
John Divola

A man – seen from behind – is running as fast as possible, and as far as possible,along a path that disappears into a distant, hidden and unknown horizon; he is constantly pushing against boundaries, his boundaries.Through these photographs, John Divola reveals the unfurling of a moment, impressing his images with the mark of eternity and, by doing so, registeringthem in space-time. On a more personal level, the photographer created these images in the lead-up to his fiftieth year, a time when life ceases to appearinfinite and unchangeable. His work is therefore associated with a notion of fleeting mortality; it alludes to a point of no return, at which the man no longerhas any choice other than to press onwards.

As for John Divola, he continues his route along life’s path, without equivocation. To create these photographs,the artist used a grainy 35-millimetre film. As such, his figure almost appears to be absorbed in the image itself. Recently, John Divola has begun using Giga-Pan technology – panoramic images taken in very high resolution – which allows him to explore his pictures across time, to move among the innumerable detailsthat constitute them as though being placed inside a moment that memory has brought back to life. Time and space are two key elements towards understandingthis work. And by distancing himself as quickly as he can from the camera, John Divola leaves us, the spectator, face to face with our own existenceand the questions it raises.

As Far As I Could Get John Divola

Current edition

Images-forêts

Léa Habourdin

Big Fish

Laurence Kubski

Nina Rieben

A Spasso

Luca Massaro

As Far As I Could Get
John Divola