GALLERY5X7 welcomes Xavier Vanlaere to our community of artists and collectors! We are excited to feature a number of Xavier’s beautiful handcrafted silver gelatin prints (developed in darkroom using a paintbrush) for purchase. These beautiful alternative process prints are wonderful additions to our gallery portfolio.
Artist Bio
Xavier Vanlaere’s passion for images came early in life when, as a child, he went to his father’s professional studio and witnessed in the glowing darkness the slow revelation of the film image. Xavier collected the black and white trial proofs from his father’s darkroom and colored them with markers, recomposing landscapes and drawing on portraits to make new creations.
In 1998, Xavier set up his own photography workshop and darkroom near Marseille, France. Since that time he has worked on long-term themes that he explores over several years: portraits, cities at dawn, etc. Each of his photographic subjects become a personal exploration allowing him to meet people, discover other universes – to learn, to grow. Sensitive to the beauty of things, to the fragility of the moment, Xavier fixes his visual impressions to keep and watch.
But for Xavier capturing the image is only the beginning, as the final print does not yet exist. It is in his studio that he slowly builds it and where it ultimately takes a final form. He attaches great importance to obtaining the final object – the one he has pre-visualized or the one that offers itself to him in sometimes surprising and unpredictable ways. And if the technique requires discipline, rigor and the application of a precise protocol, Xavier also leaves room for failures and experimentation because he knows that processing “errors” sometimes give rise to singular and unexpected beauty, opening up new avenues of creativity.
Xavier lives and works in the south of France, leading photography workshops in the city of Marseille.
“Ce qu’il faut de lumière” © Xavier Vanlaere. Approx. 4.3×6.3″ (11x16cm) handcrated alternative process photograph (silver gelatin print) developed in darkroom with a paintbrush on multigrafe FB photographic paper. GALLERY5X7 offers this signed, original print at $250.
“Avant l’automne” © Xavier Vanlaere. Approx. 2.8×3.5″ (7x9cm) handcrated alternative process photograph (silver gelatin print) developed in darkroom with a paintbrush on multigrafe FB photographic paper. GALLERY5X7 offers this signed, original print at $250.
GALLERY5X7 offers several of Xavier’s original prints.
View Xavier Vanlaere’s currently available prints for purchase.
GALLERY5X7 is dedicated to connecting artists with a collecting community by creating a trusted channel to market handcrafted alternative process photography. Are you interested in submitting your work to GALLERY5X7 for possible representation? Perhaps you are a collector of alternative process photography and want to be alerted to new artists and print offerings? Learn more about the benefits of representation by GALLERY5X7 to both creators and collectors.
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