Through Glass

For several years now, I have been collecting perfume bottles abandoned by their owners. Often, I am entrusted with the story related to these abandonments. I find a certain poetry in these stories. Fragrances forgotten, neglected, too troubling in their intensity, obsolete or recalling painful memories still too close for comfort. Many reasons are given to me. 

These small vessels I have collected are diverse and varied. I am interested in their shape and color. They are sometimes stocky, sometimes slender and often come with a short message such as, “It doesn’t suit me” or “It reminds me of my ex”. I built this collection over time, tenderly naming it the Salon of the Rejected (Salon des refusés). And it is this collection that I wanted to photograph. They may be small, but these vials have enormous potential for arousing the senses and evoking poetry. They alone represent the one and only materialization of the scent they contain. 

It is with this same truth that I decided to photograph them and to make visible what they evoke both artistically and emotionally. Sometimes lying down or proudly standing, these outcast vials tell us the vagaries of past loves.

— Exhibited at “Horizons Olfactifs”, Fondation Écureuil, Toulouse, 2023
— Exhibited at VGF “Coup de Coeur”, Haus der Fotografie, Olten, 2022
— Exhibited at “Odore”, Galerie Pauline Pavek, Paris, 2021
— Exhibited at “Photoforum Prize”, Pasquart Museum, Biel, 2020
— Awarded Grand Prix Photoforum Prize, 2019