Artist research : 1) Sophie Ristelhueber

Sophie is a Frenhc conceptualist who has uncovered the physical and geographical scars of war and conflict in a series of frequently brave personal journeys. The 60-year-old has spent 25 years capturing epicentres of volatility across the world, becaoming renowned for her unsentimental, no-holds-barred approach to presenting the damage wreaked upon bodies and earth by combat in destinations including the Balkans and Kuwait.

She has cited a campaign in Beirut in the early 80s as the starting point for her snapshots of architecture reduced to rubble by the ravages of war.

As photo journalists sought demonstrably shocking, orthodox images of disaster, Sophie, became one of the first photographers to survey damaged terrain from a broader viewpoint, working from planes to map the imapct in the land.

Perhaps best known for producing graphic images of stitched wounds and victims recovering after surgery, she has won the award for her current two-month retrospective at the Jeu de Paume in Paris, having also had major exhibitions in New York and Bosten.

"Sophie's fragmented images explore the terrain of the real and imagined, addressing urgent issues of trauma, loss, memory and conflict," [...] "push the boundaries of the photographic medium"

Sophie says , 'My real interest is travelling the world’s tormented places and revealing the scars and the traces on the ground,’ 'I am dedicated to the earth.’ #

She says how her photos are true and false at the same time. She uses technical teams to manipulate and add to her photographs.
Such as with her "Eleven Blow ups" work.

"Vulaines"

“In addition to photographing the buildings from a child’s perspective, I cut out bits of scenes from old family photo albums in order to combine them in monumental diptychs”

This last works relates well to our theme of memory, exploring the idea of the perspectives of a child.