Chaumont-Photo-Sur-Loire

As artists-in-residence or guest artists, what the photographers for this second season all have in common – over and above the poetic relationship they nurture with nature through the techniques they use – is their meticulous and attentive experimental approach.

Two exhibitions are the fruit of an on-site residency and of a wholly original project, where contemporary technology has yielded unique images of the Domaine’s grounds, landscapes and trees.

The London-based Italian artist Davide Quayola has produced very high definition photographs and scenes which, similar to an x-ray, reveal the geometry of trees and complexity of nature – the essence from which things are made, if you like. For six months, from the winter to the summer solstice, US photographer Robert Charles Mann installed his “solargraphs” at various points around the Domaine, capturing the changing pattern of the sun’s curving path.

Finnish photographer Santeri Tuori, meanwhile, also uses a very specific layering technique for his Forest series, sometimes combining colour and black & white photographs to produce surreal, timelessly fascinating images.

For her part, the intrepid visual explorer Juliette Agnel lays bare the depth and wonder of extreme landscapes, from the Arctic Ocean to the skies over Morocco, all reflections of her rich interiority.

Lastly, ahead of the events celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Renaissance, a special commission has been given to the prominent US photographer Alex MacLean, who captures the essence of landscapes so exquisitely: through his aerial photographs, he reveals the power and grace of the timeless architecture of the Loire Valley’s Renaissance Châteaux.