Photographic Investigations

At the end of the twentieth century in France, geographical investigation was a developing theme in many photographic practices, in particular those where photographers use protocols, more or less directly inspired by those used by geographers. The works of Mathieu Asselin, Mathieu Pernot and Stéphanie Solinas reveal, each in their own way, a willingness to explore and understand certain aspects of reality – representing a line of sight for their approach to research and creation. While, during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, human sciences tended to affirm their status as scientific disciplines, by becoming institutionalized and professionalized, and by erasing from their production all formal sophistication, any symptom of subjectivity or trace of improvisation, photographers such as Asselin, Pernot, or Solinas are today assuming the preoccupations of researchers – as amateurs – by seeking comprehension of certain phenomena.