Didier Massard is a magician of invention within
the genre of fabricated photographs. He was born and raised in Paris where
he received his Baccalaureate degree in art and archaeology from the University
of Paris in 1975. For twenty-five years he executed commercial work as a still
photographer for clients in the world of fashion and cosmetics including Chanel,
Hermes, and many others. After the completion his series Imaginary Journeys,
executed over almost ten years, his career was launched and he now works exclusively
on his personal projects. His series are conceived from his imagination while
drawing from our collective romantic and touristic notions of nationality
and place. His exotic locales created in his studio have evoked Ireland, China,
India, Holland the cliffs of Normandy. Massard works for long periods on each
of these tableaux, and ruminates that "each image is the completion of an
inner imaginary journey." Roberta Smith wrote in The New York Times "color
and space combine with fastidious detail to create a sense of illusion and
artifice that is more usual to painting, Magic Realist painting in particular...one's
willingness to suspend disbelief is a measure of Massard's skill."
Massard works slowly, completing only two or three images a year. Following his first series he has created "Artificial Paradise" between 1999 and 2003 and since then he has been involved in the evolution of "Territories" which includes images of animals and mysterious landscapes. His second monograph entitled "Artifices" was published in 2007.
Massard works slowly, completing only two or three images a year. Following his first series he has created "Artificial Paradise" between 1999 and 2003 and since then he has been involved in the evolution of "Territories" which includes images of animals and mysterious landscapes. His second monograph entitled "Artifices" was published in 2007.
Territories 2003-2009 [view
images]
Artificial Paradise 1999-2003 [view images]
Imaginary Journeys 1993-1999 [view images]