The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Wednesday February 18th — —

“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Wednesday February 18th — —

I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Wednesday February 18th — —

Deconstruction by Virginie Khateeb

Virginie Khateeb is a French photographer, currently based in Paris. Her main inspirations lay in the wilderness, raw materials, body shapes and the stillness of chaos. This results in a longing for change and new experiences, constantly pushing her to find unspoiled beauty, whether that lays within a person or at a particular place. One of those discoveries, which she found and captured in a tremendous manner, are the marble quarries of Carrara in the North of Italy, just under Genoa, where the talented photographer shot the series named ‘Deconstruction’ for Yet Magazine. The subject matter of her series is an area full of constantly evolving landscapes, characterized by their surreal architecture and sculpted structures built from gutted mountains. Khateeb portrays this tour de force of nature’s beauty in incredible clean frames, which at first glance may even appear to be paintings, with the extraordinary marble, full of hard lines, almost becoming tangible. We just plainly love the raw beauty of these images, underlining the great talent of Khateeb.

The marble quarries of Carrara are constantly evolving landscapes characterized by their surreal architecture and sculpted structures built from gutted mountains. Both material body and missing part, they are incoherent and therefore deny the possibility of a pure presence.

The very talented photographer Virginie Khateeb works in different corners of the photographic field, both on commissioned projects as free endeavors. A lot of her work in fashion is predominantly in black and white. When color does appear, the photographer reveals the light in its darkest version of its primary state, resulting in a soft color palette which pleases the eye and results in images full of tension and character. Khateeb has worked for fashion label Wooyoungmi, and next to this incredible series for Yet Magazine, her work has been published in Stage Fashion Magazine, Bite Magazine and 1990 Magazine, amongst others.

Her colors come through straight on, sharp and painterly, Gerhard Richter-like with the influence of Sarah Moon; punctuating the subject matter in an aura of vanitas. Her nature is sinew-esque, life pumps in shallow, moderate breaths through its veins, cool yet temperate. These are places you could go to and you would be okay. Marble and palm, runway lights, rock, blood and bathwater, they move in tonal unison.

For more information and more work by Virginie see here.