Interstellar

INTERSTELLAR

In astronomy, the interstellar medium is the material that fills the space between stars in a galaxy and blends into the surrounding intergalactic medium. Far from being empty and sterile, the interstellar space is the birthplace of thriving, diverse, and unusual chemistry. It is composed of atoms, ions, and molecules, mostly gas (99%) and dust (1 %); it enables radiation to propagate over long distances. Its density ranges from a few thousand to a few hundred million particles per cubic meter.

Alain Richard (1968) has been passionate about astronomy since he was young; he has a love for stars, nebulae, and galaxies. The Belgian photographer’s goal could only be fascinated by this diffuse space between stars, both immaterial and material, a heterotopic space, a place of illusion and perfection. Two trips to Chile, in 2009 and 2014, in the Atacama Desert, are the origin of the Interstellar series. The photographs were taken from a scientific observatory located in the Andes at an altitude of 2500 meters, where Alain Richard spent many nights staring at the cosmos. Along with his Andean photographs taken on site, he then creates images in his studio, which he completely darkens to artificially recreate skies and clouds composed of carbon dioxide vapor. All this using different techniques, lighting effects, and high-resolution shots. A rich and long work of composition and chroma, always inspired by the views captured in Chile.

To express himself, the artist chooses the large format and cotton baryta paper. With his extreme enlargements, decontextualized, universes and galaxies become an abstract visual ballet that the eye can no longer decrypt. The fineness of the details, the elegance of the blacks, the enhancement of the textures highlight the depth of compositions of great beauty. We are in an unlimited territory where extreme complexity reigns, a meticulous blend of detail and grandeur