Philippe De Gobert

My approach is to dream about, to imagine a place, and then to build it from scratch. My building site being on the scale of a model, it makes the task that first appeared tedious, playful. On a small model, modifications happen almost as fast as they are imagined. 

As often as possible I use materials that correspond to those that would be implemented at full size. Generally, model makers come up against overwhelming difficulties because they try to reproduce what exists on a large scale, they attempt a representation. I reverse the process, I start from existing materials: wood, plaster, dust, paper, choosing them for their natural rendering; I choose small objects for what they evoke to me on their scale by considering them mentally as being at my dimension. 

I eliminate the prowess; I simply implement what is the result of a patient observation of things. It is by looking at pebbles at length that I find a rock. 

This first phase of the work is intended to prepare a second one (photography), but it is experienced as an experiment in itself that could stop there. It happens with some models, either because it was impossible to photograph them, or the resulting images were not equal to the hopes invested during the construction. 

The models are considered as ‘sculptures’ and are exhibited provided that the venue configuration makes it possible to avoid any interference of perception between the large format photographic images and the visual approach of the models themselves. 

The model is built to be photographed in a studio and illuminated artificially, using techniques very similar to those of cinema. An illuminated atmosphere that seems natural and simple can sometimes require complex lighting, achieved by using multiple sources. Like all film sets, they are completely removable, to allow for the camera's movements in the shots and reverse shots. The camera occupies almost as much space as the subject. 

Unlike architectural photography, where the size of the space requires the use of very wide angle lenses, I use normal lenses or slightly shorter focal lengths. This allows me to get images that are close to that of the human vision, which perceives space without excessive deformations. In some cases I introduce artificial perspectives into the models by opening the angles of the walls. I often modify part of the construction during the shoot, depending on the results. 

While architectural photography shows a small image of its model, I present an image, usually in black and white, that is very enlarged (from 80x100 to 150x200 cm) of a subject that measures only twenty or thirty centimeters in reality. From this enlargement, which brings forward the imperfections of the model, a very interesting disturbance arises, giving the image a pictorial aspect that joins the poetic climate sought after in the model.