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Jeremy Peresse
@jeremyperessephotography
Photographer based in France
Going beyond travel itself, I think it’s a passion for the unexpected that I have. Sometimes it is enough just to lift your head, open your eyes and contemplate the beauty of the landscapes in front of you. When I travel to places where only nature matters, I have this impression of going back to the basics, of being contemplative again and a lucky witness of natural beauty. I consider what I see as something beautiful, almost as something poetic.
"It’s a feeling that runs through my body every time, it’s how I function."
In 2017, I set out to do the Laugavegur trek in Iceland. This adventure was the beginning of my desire to photograph unusual landscapes and those that make you feel immensely small. Besides the landscapes, human adventure is also very important. We walked for nearly 100 km, passing by the Skogafoss waterfalls, glaciers, rocky expanses, frozen streams, and could even admire the colors of Landmannalaugar. It’s a togetherness, you have to feel it all to take the exact photograph, the one that dazzles you. I think this feeling is necessary – as is the feeling of loneliness in these places. You have to feel alone and all by yourself to first contemplate and then photograph what your feelings will transform into imagination. Only nature and landscapes count, in the end. My job is to transcribe in my own way the beauty that I see.
"Photography, and in particular landscape photography is a way to escape for me. Something that taught me to consider "elsewhere" as a world of possibilities."
Cinema has been the beginning for me; the Art that unites everything, the stories and imagery. As a kid, I was fascinated by cinema and it’s still a huge source of inspiration. Especially the films of Terrence Malick had a significant impact, The Tree of Life, for example. It’s in a way about the exploration of nature and of man. Nature is a philosophy in itself that I love to share. My trip to Iceland allowed me to start my work in landscape photography, and to return to nature. When you walk or climb in places as natural as those in Iceland, your outlook on life, on yourself, and on others, changes. It is not solely an exploration of places anymore, but rather a discovery of the self in the face of the unimaginable, the powerful. I think from this multi-day adventure, the Nordic landscapes had a real impact on me and my way of seeing the world.
Iceland Light is a photo that I took during that first trip to Iceland, and it is still my favorite. Simply because I think this is the most successful photo I took in those days. The shades of light and colors are just amazing. In fact, this is a photo that I hardly had to edit because everything was already there in front of me. Even today I have fond memories of it, it’s so magical and even after having been there and seen it, it’s incredible. I think everything I could describe about my passion and my photography style comes down to this photo. I have this impression that photography and photos are made to escape time, to be eternal. I want people who see my photos to say to themselves today, tomorrow, or in 10 years, that their first feeling is still the same. I like this idea. For me, photography and travel are linked by this idea of returning to oneself and to nature. That’s why when I go on vacation or to a place, I always try to push my limits just to let my creativity emerge and compose photos that represent me and my feelings of that time, photos that are timeless as they bring me back to the moment and feel of the shot in an instant.
I am convinced that my trip to Iceland sparked this idea in me to continue and improve myself, to invest in even better material so that I can express myself more freely in my photographic work. And from there also appeared my wish to photograph other landscapes of the far North. In 2020 I went to the Lofoten Islands, on a -20°c road trip in search of unique landscapes and the northern lights. I always thought the Aurora was the most fascinating thing, mesmerizing and elegant. With such landscapes and the particular geology, we are forced to adapt as a photographer, and that is a good thing because it is from there that we learn.
Nevertheless, I also draw lots of inspiration from other creators. I have always had a lot of admiration for the work of Marc Adamus, his photos are so unique and breathtaking. More recently, I discovered the work of Roksolyana Hilevych Photography and William Preite, two Italian photographers who are super talented. Finally, as mentioned earlier, movies inspire me tremendously. Especially in terms of esthetics, because of the often somber and contrasting tones that provoke so much sensation. This is something that I constantly seek in my photographs as well when I edit them.
"However, first of all, I truly believe that the main thing to photograph is the light you see with the naked eye and then in your camera viewfinder."
It is this light that gives meaning to the photo because it gives depth and sets the mood in a way. I try to be very attentive and try to catch the lights that cross the landscapes because, without them, the photo will be flat and ultimately of no great interest – even if the scenery is gorgeous, it is not enough. Maybe this is even the most difficult part of photography, but waiting for the right moment and working with that light, can transform a photo and gets it out of the shadow and into the light.
When the right light is captured, my goal will be to magnify it and make it visible and remarkable. I place great emphasis on retouching my photos because it is at this stage that all the light takes on its meaning. With the technology and software of today, the freedom to work and to be creative is almost endless. When I edit, I try to be as perfectionist as possible, spot the details that I’m going to highlight, and think deeply again about the light. As my primary inspiration is cinema, I always have this reflex of underexposing and contrasting my photos to give a rather dark touch that suits me well. Afterward, I focus on the different layers of light to give a general light curve that is also contrasted. And it allows me to highlight the image.
"Finally, I work on the overall tint of the photos with warm tones, magenta most of the time. It's an aesthetic aspect that I love."
Beyond what we can learn technically speaking, it is above all about the impression we want to give that is important. What touches me in what I see? What do I want to show people? I mostly learned from these questions and it helped me a lot in editing my photos and capturing the best moments – The ones that will grab the attention, provoke emotion and please the eye. What makes this whole process so fulfilling for me is the imagination that art and photography stimulate in me, and the search for beauty. As far as I’m concerned, I find this in nature and the landscapes as well as in cinema, which allows me to escape from the real. I am from a generation that grew up with the universe of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, so I must admit that my desire for fantasy, for the fairy-tale-like or the ethereal, stems from there. I believe in making people dream, dazzling them, taking them to a different place, taking them out of their reality, and showing them the richness of the landscapes that we have here on Earth. It is this desire and hope that guides me and that makes me love photography so much.
When I take pictures, time stands still. I can go for minutes or hours, it feels the same. This can’t be more exciting because by escaping time, you escape everything but the desire and the passion to continue with what you are doing, without looking behind you. In my experience, photography transcends time.
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