Resilientia

"Dark green leaves, the branch of a fruit tree standing out against a lighter green. A barefoot toddler strolling, like a tightrope walker on bare ground. A greenhouse letting out green meshes bursting with the promise of spring. Images like a manifesto of the living, the subtle, the precise. A future is taking shape, with ways of doing and being which are spreading everywhere. Mathilda Olmi spent a year following this couple of pioneers from the 20s of this second millennium. Their names are Diane Waber and Hubert de Kalbermatten, and for several years they have been creating a forest garden in the heart of the Rhône Valley, not far from the St Léonard quarry. [...] Belonging to the degrowth movement, they are part of a resistance against a world overtaken by overconsumption and overproduction, opting for other ways to farm: permaculture, no machinery, no ploughing, no chemicals, relying on the allies around them: chickens, sheep, plants growing together, pledging above all to not exhaust the earth, take care of its rhythms, its breathing needs. Each moment is important, appreciated for what it is, not for what it will become. The photographer's view of this universe has no beginning and no end, and reflects the infinite cycle of life and its transformations, a continuous metamorphosis that can be seen in this sensitive series of still images." Text by Florence Grivel, translated from French

For centuries, women's bodies have largely been painted by - and for - men. Without even realising it, the images we see become embedded in us and shape the way we see the world. Mathilda Olmi is addressing this topic with the aim to contribute to renewing these iconographies. She asked her models about their relationship with their own bodies. Moving far away from artificially sensual poses, Mathilda Olmi was able to emphasise the individuality of each person through postures and gestures, almost like an improvised dance in front of the camera. The natural light reveals the details and particularities of each person, far beyond the clichés conveyed by advertising or the media. The still lifes that punctuate this series are both pauses and markers of everyday life, and also make reference to ecofeminist theories that link the exploitation of nature to the oppression of women and gender minorities by men. The dog rose (Rosa Canina), a thorny, tenacious wild plant favoured by witches, is a militant echo of the photographer's artistic statement.