Manure Heaps | 2000 - Philippe Gronon

Manure Heaps | 2000

Black and white analog photographs, framed digital pigment prints

The steaming piles of manure in the countryside of the Île de France, Brittany and Burgundy were, for the most part, photographed in winter, incongruous reliefs in the country landscape, ephemeral monuments. They provide a link between animal and plant life.
These sand castles and dung heaps are an exception to the frontal nature of Philippe Gronon’s work. The images in this series are more akin to sculpture.

These two series are like regenerative departures towards the traditions of photography, like a breathing space away from the drastic and strict protocol that applies to his other work. They become a moment of release from in the extreme rigour of the principles underlying the rest of his work. A kind of counterpoint, as if to check that we still have the traditional craft well in hand.

1. Manure Heap, Azay le Rideau – 2000
11 x 15,5 cm
Vue avec le dispositif d’encadrement 60 x 80 cm

2. Manure Heap, Ury – 2000
60 x 80 cm (image off device 10,5 x 16 cm)

3. Manure Heap, Rambouillet n°1 – 2000
60 x 80 cm (image off device 11 x 15,5 cm)

4. Manure Heap, Rouvres – 2000
60 x 80 cm (image off device 10,5 x 16 cm)

5. Manure Heap, Genlis – 2000
60 x 80 cm (image off device 11 x 15,5 cm)

6. Manure Heap, Sonchamp n°1 – 2000
60 x 80 cm (image off device 10,5 x 16 cm)

7. Manure Heap, Auxonne – 2000
60 x 80 cm (image off device 10,5 x 16 cm)

8. Manure Heap, Goderville – 2000
60 x 80 cm (image off device 10,5 x 16 cm)

9. Manure Heap, Sonchamp n°2 – 2000
60 x 80 cm (image off device 10,5 x 16 cm)

10. Manure Heap, Varanges – 2000
60 x 80 cm (image off device 10,5 x 16 cm)

11. Manure Heap, Sonchamp n°3 – 2000
60 x 80 cm (image off device 10,5 x 16 cm)

12. Manure Heap, Azay le Rideau – 2000
60 x 80 cm (image off device 11 x 15,5 cm)