Philippe Mazaud

Philippe Mazaud finds it useful to articulate ideas about his work in terms of a number of dualities. At once his photographs are pieces of fiction as addition to documentation of reality. The process of shooting in 8″x10” format is meticulously executed, yet he does not see much in the black of night, so his work maintains a sense of improvisation in the face of 30-45 minute exposures. Philippe’s work has been shown in galleries from New York to Carson City, Paris to Idaho. He was born in New York City and educated in both New York and Paris, France including the New York Studio School and the École des Beaux Arts.

As part of his Fellowship’s Meet the Artist requirements, Phillipe presented his work to a full house at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. The audience consisted of visual arts and photography students, other students and non-students as well. Two-thirds of his near-50 slides concerned his nocturnal work (the line of work submitted to Artist Trust for the 2008 Fellowship), and the rest with Sur l’Herbe, an altogether distinct project. People were encouraged to ask questions and bring up comments during the presentation, which they did not hesitate to do. After the presentation several people, including Evergreen organizer Susan Aurand and Mazuad, met again later at a pleasant Thai restaurant in downtown Olympia, for more discussion of art, artists, mathematics and life over good food and Thai beer.