BY AURIANE ALIX
The infinite nature of White is inspiring. White as a colour. White as a space. An empty space waiting to be fulfilled. Or left as is. White draws the viewer’s eyes towards what’s important. Or towards the small details asking to express themselves.
Some people are afraid of White. Anxious. How to fill this blank, infinite space? Where to begin from? For some people, White is an impediment to creativity, but for others, it is the detonator of an idea’s explosion. White makes everything possible. It is a field without foundations, from where we can construct everything.
White is permanent. Constant. You can cover it up, but not make it disappear. It will always be there, just under. Whatever we do, White is there, under creativity, under the ideas written down on paper, or somewhere else. White is a base. Malleable, it is suitable for every inspiration. It is the cradle of human creativity.
White is relaxing, restful and peaceful, like a slow watercourse, without any waves. It soothes our conscience, and heals the darkness. It chases shadows away, illuminates faces. An icon of purity, it conveys a feeling of achievement, of well-done work.
Minimalism. White leads to refinement. Simple, without anything useless. However, simple doesn’t rhyme with bland. Once again, minimalism draws the viewer’s eyes towards what is important. Superfluous does not have a place, forced to give up its seat for the scope of purity, the scope of nothing, the scope of White.
Snow white is resplendent. The snowflakes fall from thick clouds, almost in slow motion, slowly, gently, carefully, as if they were afraid of breaking their many frozen crystals. The snow is soothing, soft, elegant. The flakes touch the ground in hushed, muffled sounds, piling up on tree branches, letterbox corners or sloping roofs.
In Norway, where I was standing, all I could see was White. Bright White. I was surrounded by light. Outside the car, it was so cold that I could barely feel my hands while taking those images. As I walked in this blind immensity, I could hear my feet sink into the snow with this satisfying sound, and feeling my body sink a few millimetres with each step. While the car was slowly making its way around the icy patches, on the frozen road, some details caught my attention before disappearing again behind the invisible landscape.
This landscape made me feel simultaneously trapped and free. I couldn’t even distinguish the skyline from the snow. The distances were blurred. Touches of colour appeared from time to time. A cabin almost covered in snow. A road sign rendered invisible by the amount of snow stuck on it. Some people were snowkiting, their coloured veil beautifully contrasting the bright white snow.
But the main feeling was freeness. Whether it was freeness conveyed by the almost infinite playground and landscape I had in front of me, or by the magical effect of White.
白的本質啟發無限的可能。白作為一種顏色,白作為一種空間,一個等待被填滿的空之領域,或者就只是留白。白將觀者的視線引導到重點上,或欲求表達自我的細節上。
有些人害怕白。焦慮。如何填滿這個空白、無限的空間?從哪裏開始?如果對一些人來說,白色是創造的障礙,對另一些人來說,它就是創作力的引爆器。白使一切變得可能,白是沒有基礎的一片處女地,可以在那裏建造任何東西。
白是永恒。恒常。你可以將它掩埋,卻不能令其消失。它一直在那兒,藏在下面。不論我們做什麽,白就在這兒,在寫在紙上的想法下面,或在別處。白是基礎,它可以延展,可以適應任何一個靈感,它是人類創造力的搖籃。
白是輕松的、安詳的、平和的,像一條緩緩的溪流,沒有波瀾。它撫慰良知,治愈暗黑,驅趕陰霾,照亮臉龐。白是純潔的標誌,它傳達了一種成就感。
極簡主義。白指向精制。簡潔,剔除無用的部分。然而,簡潔不代表乏味。再一次,極簡主義讓觀者的視線引向“什麽是重要的”。多余的事物無處容納,只能讓位給純粹。
雪的白是華麗的。雪花從厚重的雲層中落下,仿佛慢動作般,輕柔、緩慢、小心翼翼,好像害怕打碎那許多凍結的水晶。雪讓人感到安慰、柔軟、優雅。雪花觸碰大地,輕聲而沈悶,堆積在樹枝上、信箱邊緣或是坡屋面上。
我佇立之地,挪威,滿目皆白,明亮的白。我被光圍繞,車外嚴寒,拍照時幾乎感覺不到自己的手指。我走入這炫目的無垠之中,聽到雙腳陷入雪中的聲音,如此平常又令人饜足的聲音,每走一步,都感覺自己的身體下陷了幾毫米。車在冰面上緩緩前行,在凍結的路面上,我註意到一些細節,在它們再次消失在看不見的起伏地景中。
此處的地景讓我同時感到受困與自由。我甚至無法分清雪和天際線,距離感也被模糊了。偶然露出的一點色彩,是被雪掩埋的小屋,和被積雪渲染得近乎無形的路標。有人在玩風箏滑雪,白雪中,風箏的色彩鮮艷斑斕。
但占上風的感覺仍是自由。由我眼前無垠的遊戲場和地景,或是白的奇幻效果所傳達的自由。
At 20 years old, Auriane is a French photography student based in Paris. Attracted to a minimalist aesthetic, she loves pastel colours, clear lights, and the power of very straight and parallel lines. If travel photography is her very first passion, Auriane also practices portraiture, in which she also applies this minimalist style. Many people describe her style as contemplative and clear, which seems to be a good summary.
20岁的Auriane是一名在巴黎学习摄影的法国学生。为极简主义美学所吸引,她喜欢色粉、明亮的光线,以及直线与平行线的力量。可以说旅行摄影是她最初的激情,但Auriane也拍摄人像,同样运用极简主义风格。很多人形容她的照片深邃而简洁,似乎是很好的总结。
Instagram : @aurianealixphotography
Website : www.aurianealix.com