A photograph is supposed to show things, unless these belong to the indivisible, the space beyond, such as the absolute darkness of the infinite. In that expanse where the supernatural lurks. The deities long since known and attached to a particular sanctified topos. Delos Island stands out in that category as a place easily identified on a map but physically impossible to reach as one sails in the Aegean Sea. You know it is there, but you are hindered from gaining hold of it. It is as elusive as an imagined place that belongs to another sphere of existence. This explains its flickering sight from a distance which soon leads to a vanishing image at closer distance: as if the magic has escaped.
There exist few occasions to catch off-guard this outlandish appearance. The fine art photographer Erieta Attali has undergone long and excruciating trials before she could accomplish this seemingly impossible feat, working from the outside toward the central location of Delos and the opposite, from the center to the outward limits of the Cyclades which surround Delos forming a protective ring. The three photographs selected from a rich deposit of material collected by Attali on this occasion represent some of the directions she followed on her daring quest. The first photo is a haunting night shot from the northern extremity of Paros Island at the direction of Delos, which can almost be divined as a faint gesture on the horizon under the moon’s gaze. The second photo reverses the timing, catching Delos at dawn, lying right at the center, as perceived from Naxos Island. The third photo reverses the viewer’s stand, from inside to the outside of the circle, from Delos looking toward the neighboring Rineia Island and to the broadness of the sea beyond.
Title
On the indivisible essence of the Aegean Sea: Photographs by Erieta AttaliType
ExhibitionFrom
May 16, 2024 09:00 AMUntil
May 29, 2024 06:00 PMVenue
Galerie BSL, ParisAddress