In her « La Plage Blanche » series, Carine Magescas lifts for us the veil. It actually is a long journey, that we can only touch on here, to achieve this joy for the eye, this evidence.
From her Basque father, Carine drew on the vibrant immensity of Coastal landscapes and the ardent curiosity of explorers. Since her arrival to America in 1998, thanks to her fresh outlook, Carine daily captures the plastic quality of Californian landscapes and the specificities of American lifestyle. It’s a first step. It is then time to sift through, like a gold rush pioneer sorting through sand. Gradually, little gems appear.
Luckily, Carine inherently possess a precious trait for whom wants to venture in an artistic endeavor: A phlegmatic rejection of any kind of pathos and the sophistication of xx
This wisdom and exigency leads to a quest of authentic views, frames and hues Carine proceeds with a sophisticated minimalism and an intuitive rejection of pathos, eventually stripping images down to their essence.
Thus, the progression shown in Carine Magescas ‘La Plage Blanche’ is emblematic of her spiritual process, increasingly leaning towards less rather than more. Slowly, the realism in the photographs leaves place to a pure artistic project. Beyond the anecdote, the beach, the surfboards, the familiar coastal decorum dissolves from the loud agitation of the civilized world to become luminous havens of peace and serenity.
This small wonder lies in that all the elements – the complementarity of tints and hues , the blues entirely devoid of affectation, the rhythm in the composition, the verticality of the emerging silhouettes – are all true; tend to the universal. They meet an inner need. And that inner need for Carine is the vibration of light. Carine Magescas is a magician of light who magnificently plays with its shimmery effects on spaces.
To what do we distinguish a major photograph, one that will last? It gives the impression that each tree, cloud, shadow naturally positioned itself in the right place. Like a living material.
Through great exigency in her work, where every detail contributes to achieve a perfect realization of her intention, Carine Magescas won the power to offer us this original vibrant material. Her photographs give us joy. Her photographs give us joy. They lead to contemplation. One thinks of the late abstract landscapes of the wonderful Nicolas de Staël.
Carine Magescas found her own signature style, an accomplishment in the crowded world of Contemporary Photography.
One can see in her work, this skill praised by Thoreau:
‘Some piece of mica, as it were, in the face or eyes of one,… , slanted at the right angle, reflects the heavens to us.’
What more is there to say? Merci Carine.
Catherine de la Clergerie, Author and Curator. Paris.