Christophe Gogniat
BIOGRAPHIE
As I was born in Neuchâtel canton, I experienced both town and country life throughout my childhood before going on to study computer programming and work in the Lausanne region. I later moved to the Riviera region of Vaud canton and then to the Chablais, where I have been living with my family since 2018.
In the first part of my life I wasn’t much interested in art; I preferred technical subjects and quite forgot the pleasure I’d had in childhood after school or during the holidays exploring flora and fauna in the great outdoors.
The change came about in 2006 when I began travelling and discovered other cultures and other horizons. My way of thinking changed as I developed an interest for the aesthetic aspect of things. Until that time I took very few pictures, and only as a means of keeping souvenirs. But now, especially as I had acquired my first reflex camera, I saw photography differently.
Having only a very basic knowledge of photography, I taught myself for a while and later took part in workshops with numerous professional photographers. I began practising my new skills by taking pictures of landscapes during my travels. I began doing portrait and studio photography in 2013, but then went on a long journey abroad and didn’t go back to it when I returned.
It was in 2016 that I started my second specialization in photography, which is macro/proxy, and since then I’ve been alternating between landscapes and macro. It was also in 2016 that I became increasingly interested in post-processing techniques to bring my shots into line with my artistic vision. It was only in 2022, however, that I first thought of exhibiting my pictures. I held my first exhibition the following year.
Today, through photography, I have found again that contact with nature that I had as a child. I’m not so sure, though, whether I travel the world in order to take pictures or if it’s my love of photography that gives me an excuse to travel the world.
Artistic approach
Ever on the alert for a special spirit in my landscape photography, I pay particular attention to strong contrast between light and shadow, while yet conserving harmony between the two. In macro/proxy photography my approach is slightly different, since there I seek to integrate my subject in its natural surroundings while maintaining a balance between subject and background.
In my pictures I aspire to bring out the interplay of elements, especially of water, mineral, and vegetable elements. Although I was born under a fire sign, it is water that fascinates me and I enjoy combining its movement and dynamics together with the fiery colours of autumn.
After several years of playing only with composition and contrast, nowadays I include more balance in the use of colour in my pictures, particularly regarding combinations of warm and cold tones. The main component of my pictures, however, and the one I still consider most essential, is light.
Exhibitions
- June 16 to August 27, 2023 Collective multidisciplinary exhibition on the theme of “Sol Vivant” (living ground), Galerie de Madame T, Valangin, NE.
- August 26-27, 2023 Salon de la photo Pic’s Day, photography on the them of « La Montagne et ses Ambiances » (the mountain and its moods) Pavillon des Mangettes, Monthey, VS.
- October 20-22, 2023 Festival Salamandre - « Migrations », an exhibition at the gallery of the artists of the festival, on the theme of “L’Odyssée de l’Eau” (the odyssey of water), Théâtre de Beausobre, Morges, VD.
- September 7-8, 2024 Salon des Arts Ré-Visionnaires, Aigle
Publications
-
Annual calendar 2020 of the Kudelski Group on the theme of “Landscape”, picture for the month of May
-
Annual calendar 2022 of the Kudelski Group on the theme of “Water reflexion”, picture for the month of October.
-
Annual calendar 2023 of the Kudelski Group on the theme of “Bridges of all kinds”, picture for the month of October.
-
Picture to head the website page for https://www.nagra.com/business-activities (Kudelski Group)
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Re-Visionary symbol: I leave my work free of copyright so that it can be shared among people who wish to reproduce it in the spirit of the Collective, as long as they indicate me as author.
Copyright symbol: I am the copyright holder of my own works: my work cannot be reproduced, except by the Re-Visionary Art Collective, under the conditions as indicated above in point 1. Unless I give my written consent.
CONTACT
Christophe Gogniat
Ollon
+41 (0)79 671 62 60
​
​