Chrystel Lebas — Field Studies

French Photographer Chrystel Lebas retracing the steps of famous botanist and ecologist Sir Edward James Salisbury (1886-1978). Salisbury’s glass negatives from the 1920, where used for his research and served as an important tool for Lebas to (re-)visit the Scottish landscape. In ‘Field Studies: Walking through Landscapes and Archives’ she combines her own large panoramic photographs, with the negatives and texts of Salisbury. Lebas uses long exposures, mostly photographed at dusk, when colours become subtle. The photographs are printed on large size fold out pages, which show all works in great detail.

‘Over 100 years later, Chrystel Lebas adopts this same state of travel, transported by Salisbury’s historic photographs. Her subject is—just like Salisbury’s was—the study of landscape environments and their inhabitant plants. Through photography and film Lebas traces the continual encounters between the forces of the wind and the sea with humans, animals, and plants.’ — Extract from Bergit Arends essay