Brighton Photo Biennial 2018 - Emeric Lhuisset: L'Autre Rive

The theme of the 2018 Biennial 'A New Europe' comes at a very pertinent time as our society in the UK is undergoing massive cultural and political upheaval. These changes are reflected in many of the projects on show, dealing with hot topic subjects such as the migrant crisis, homelessness, and national identity. This year the OCA students were guided through a number of exhibitions by staff from Photoworks who host the Biennial.

Emeric Lhuisset's L'Autre Rive project uses unfixed cyanotypes to detail the generations of migrants that have settled in Europe. The process allows the prints to darken over time as they change through a colour range from European Union flag blue to black, losing all photographic detail in the process. Lhuisset has managed to slow the darkening process so that the images fade over the life of the exhibition. We arrived on the last weekend and by this point most of the images were completely black although my iPhone exposure has compensated for this and brought out much more detail than can be seen by the eye.

In my mind the conceptual marrying of the unfixed cyanotype process with the subject matter fits perfectly. The lives of migrants to and currently working in the UK is under threat and their voice is fast disappearing from the political discourse. One of the most poignant images is of the crossing point closest to Europe where many migrants have lost their lives in the water.        

Emeric Lhuisset - L'Autre Rive

Handout for L'autre Rive