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Nicolas Ruel

Nicolas Ruel was born in Montreal in 1973. He began his studies in film and international relations before undertaking extensive travels, during which time he would obtain his training as a photographer. Ruel has been presented in solo and collective exhibitions all over the world. Using his signature medium, stainless steel, on which to print his large scale works, Nicolas Ruel has received much acclaim, for his unique approach to photography.

Nicolas Ruel’s most recent project, projet 8 secondes depicts urban civilizations captured by the photographer in sustained intervals of eight seconds. Nicolas Ruel has explored evocative cities, such as Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Beijing and Sydney, in both day and night time settings.

The long exposition technique employs cinematographic processes by condensing each picture into eight second micrometers. This duration period constitutes key moments that are united in a single photographic element, resembling the condensation process of dreams. During this apertural travelling shot, the photographer seeks to magnify the actions and spectacle of the city, in a balance between dream and reality. This journey is an attempt to reveal the relationship between urban man and architecture; editing, moment by moment, the city’s urban pulse.

The juxtaposition of two or more pictures into a single image forms an inverted vision of the city. As a result, famous architectural structures can be merged with cloud breaches, or an freeway with a futuristic railway station, thus creating new a visual communication. These appropriate themselves as the imaginary cities of the photographer through his feverish photographic gestures.

This series, exclusively printed on stainless steel, benefits from the intrinsic and intense luminosity of its support material. Focusing on the concept of the Monumental, this unified approach creates parallels between urbanism, architecture and the people; entities that become indivisible within those eight tumultuous seconds.

www.nicolasruel.com

Carnaval

Every day, Venetians roam across the Canal Grande and its innumerable meandering byways, patiently crafting a delicate collage. Venice is a city against all odds of nature, according to Chateaubriand, the hard candy of the Adriatic, gradually losing its sweetness in the voracious palate of the acqua alta. Its history is rich, its splendour, fascinating. Carnival celebrations display the Venetians’ unconditional attachment to an architectural miracle, such as the Mardi Gras Saturnalia has shown ever since the 10th century. That is, until the masks came off in 1797, upon the Republic's defeat. La Serenissima would then have to wait over two hundred years for its Carnival to unfurl once again under the skies.

Nicolas Ruel owes his most extravagant photographic dreams to this flamboyant return. Passionate about theatre, dance and costumes, the photographer had long desired to take part in the incomparable spectacle. Believing in an osmosis between the city and its people, Ruel wanted, with utmost respect, to permeate silk and stone. Silent, discrete and intent, he constrained his camera work to mid-waist shots, as one would exchange half-hushed words. His minute, rigorous, then cutting gestures, akin to gazes exchanged under cover of the maschera, have captured the multiple roles of the commedia dell'arte in a style at once cinematic, theatrical and choreographic.

Midnight tolls. Nicolas Ruel buttons up the cuffs on his coat. He hides his camera, and slips into an unforgettable ball. A night bird, enraptured by silky motion and troubling light, slipping between walls, under bridges, he feels Venice dilating and contracting, an organ afloat. Ball dancers occupy three tiers: Paradise, Purgatory, Inferno. In Purgatory, red shadows coalesce with forbidden alcoves; in Hell, gowns and heavy cloaks mimic The Divine comedy; in Paradise, the night melts into laughter and tears. Everywhere masks cover layered faces, feathers reveal more flesh than they hide, and silhouettes coalesce into one blinding glitter. Sonorous filaments escape from cellos, brush over a shoulder, where a glove gently comes to rest; only interlaced, unlaced, rethreaded fields of chiaroscuro appear. Nocturnal tracings. In reverence, shutters close upon the commedia while the photographer walks, half-masked, into the burning cavalcade of the sun.

Translated from the French by Daniel Canty / Copyediting Angela Carr

Commedia
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
48" X 72" Limited edition of 1

Isola
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
48" X 72" Limited edition of 1
Tricorno
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
48" X 72" Limited edition of 1
Maschera
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 48" Limited edition of 5
40" X 80" Limited edition of 5
48" X 96" Limited edition of 1
Ventaglio
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
48" X 72" Limited edition of 1
Coppia
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
48" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Primadonna
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
48" X 24" Limited edition of 5
80" X 40" Limited edition of 5
96" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Segreto
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
48" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Apparizione
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
48" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Spirito
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
48" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Bambolina
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
48" X 72" Limited edition of 1
Vendetta
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
48" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Sosia
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
36" X 24" Limited edition of 5
60" X 40" Limited edition of 5
72" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Trucco
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
48" X 72" Limited edition of 1
Brigata
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
48" X 72" Limited edition of 1
Incantesimo
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
36" X 24" Limited edition of 5
60" X 40" Limited edition of 5
72" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Serenissima
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
36" X 24" Limited edition of 5
60" X 40" Limited edition of 5
72" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Colossi
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
36" X 24" Limited edition of 5
60" X 40" Limited edition of 5
72" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Speranza
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
48" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Fiorente
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
48" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Cameo
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
36" X 24" Limited edition of 5
60" X 40" Limited edition of 5
72" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Scappatella
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
48" X 72" Limited edition of 1
Stella
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
36" X 24" Limited edition of 5
60" X 40" Limited edition of 5
72" X 48" Limited edition of 1
Mascherata
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
48" X 72" Limited edition of 1
Avventura
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
48" X 72" Limited edition of 1
Caffè Florian
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
48" X 72" Limited edition of 1
Lume
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
48" X 72" Limited edition of 1
Anticamera
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
48" X 48" Limited edition of 1
La Messinscena
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 48" Limited edition of 5
40" X 80" Limited edition of 5
48" X 96" Limited edition of 1
Valzer
Venice, Italy, 2010
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 48" Limited edition of 5
40" X 80" Limited edition of 5
48" X 96" Limited edition of 1
   

 

8 secondes
Road Movie
New York, 2008
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
St-Lazare
Paris, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Tableau
Paris, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 80" Limited edition of 5
Les Tuileries
Paris, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 80" Limited edition of 5
La défense
Paris, 2007
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Arabesque
Paris, 2007
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Volke
Berlin, 2007
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Clockwise
Sydney, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
Collage
Sydney, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
60" X 40" Limited edition of 5
Avalon
Sydney, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Station
Sydney, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Lanterns
Singapore, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Tandem
Singapore, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Dori
Tokyo, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 80" Limited edition of 5
Midnight Stand
Tokyo, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Passagers
Tokyo, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Fast Forward
Tokyo, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Matsuri
Kyoto, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Bloom
Kyoto, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Empire
Beijing, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 80" Limited edition of 5
Hutong
Beijing, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Maze
Beijing, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Openfire
Beijing, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
Perspective
Shanghai, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 80" Limited edition of 5
Scenario
Shanghai, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Trade
Shanghai, 2009
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Tower Bridge
London, 2007
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Window
London, 2007
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
Triade
Machu Picchu, 2008
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 80" Limited edition of 5
Salineras
Machu Picchu, 2008
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Centro Historico
Mexico City, 2008
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Fuga
Mexico City, 2008
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
Bella Artes
Mexico City, 2008
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
Barrio Norte
Mexico City, 2008
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Reflex
Mexico City, 2008
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Filature
Toronto, 2008
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
United
Toronto, 2008
Photograph printed on stainless steel
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
     

 

Others
Soie
2006
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 48" Limited edition of 5
40" X 80" Limited edition of 5
60" X 120" Limited edition of 5
Rajasthan
2006
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
60" X 90" Limited edition of 5
Ode
2006
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
60" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Samali
2006
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
60" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Gleam
2006
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
60" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Unity
2006
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
60" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Rising & Falling
2006
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
60" X 90" Limited edition of 5
Magma
2007
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
60" X 60" Limited edition of 5
The Light
2005
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
60" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Metropolis
2007
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 24" Limited edition of 5
40" X 40" Limited edition of 5
60" X 60" Limited edition of 5
Beyond
2006
Photograph printed on stainless steel
24" X 36" Limited edition of 5
40" X 60" Limited edition of 5
60" X 90" Limited edition of 5
 

 

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