Philippe Calandre, Utopia – The Eye of Photography

For nearly twelve years, Philippe Calandre’s work has revolved around architecture, and more recently utopia. Since 2012, he has been using the technique of photomontage to introduce imaginary elements into real sites. The peculiar character of Philippe Calandre’s landscapes resides in a subtle balance between the past, the future, and the present. The use of black-and-white or subdued colors lends these images a timeless value. The photographer thus transports us into unknown regions where our dreams and our unconscious may be projected. These utopias evoke a whole literary, architectural, and cinematographic culture. In particular, we think of Thomas More, the sixteenth-century founder of the concept of utopia, of the Babel-like city imagined by Fritz Lang in Metropolis; and of the futurist visions of the architect Antonio Sant’Elia.