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Capturing what you see – sheer madness! All those lessons on optics won’t help me
understand that magical power we are endowed with. Some photos make me cry, but
I console myself in the knowledge that I have managed to save that treasured part
of my loved one – in that unforgettable spot where we once went hand in hand. In
our memories we store and fabricate dreams, in that otherworld where we can raise
our arms and fly away. A photo is like a gentle “abduction” of all those happy times.
Jacques Saraben’s shots reveal the attentive observer, ready to pounce at each enchanting
instant.
Water is his latest theme and he has been clicking away by the waterside: by the
Dordogne, by the Vézère or by the little streams that run past the mouflons. Yes,
that’s right! There are mouflons in Paunat, at “La Lande” where he has opened his
atelier which he has called “La Source” – naturally! What he has called his “instants
of vision” – with reference to Keats or Bashô - are glimpses of his secret world.
“Estas en el interior de los reflejos, estas en la casa de la Mirada” (You are deep
inside the reflections. You are in the house of the eye that sees).
« La casa de la Mirada » is an art colony in Octavio Paz’s manifesto
dedicated to the painter Roberto Matta. “El Corazon es un ojo” (the heart is an
eye) and everything we feel deep down inside is revealed in what we see, giving
us the strength to carry on.
In association with Annie Delpérier, poetess, and Michel Testut, writer, Jacques
Saraben will be presenting his photographs on the theme of “water” at the last get-together
of the “Cycle des Cafés Littéraires” in Montpon-Ménestérol on June 13th. A chance
to meet the artist - with his fervour and his secrecy – and listen to selected passages
“BY THE WATERSIDE”.
Sophie Cattoire
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