Duvelleroy
Monography

For its first Monography, the EPV (Living Heritage Company) Hand-Fan House of Duvelleroy now under the egid of Eloïse Gilles and Raphaëlle Le Baud, required to visually establish a dialogue between the inherited archive documents from La Belle Époque — including sketches, watercolors, cyanotypes, photographs, adverts, patents — and the stunning heritage of craftwork pieces made out of feathers, wood, lace, pearls and other treasures.

I decided to settle on a specific color range derived from the oldness of these documents for the photoshoot background: beiges, nude colors, faded paper tones, grey hues to reproduce as the publication goes by a delicate and consistent tone-on-tone feeling. Prominence was given to the lightness through an aerial visual grammar: wide shots that let the object exude, crumpled vibrating fabric giving tangible form to the wind, in a living set.
To update these fine and precious hand-fans I imagined a minimal staging made out of living workshop features. The pedestals are made of wood, concrete or plaster where craft pieces are showcased in equilibrium as sculptural balancing rock installation. Finally, close-ups of the spectacular works of art are here to create abstract and immersive patterns that blow the context away.