GETTING TO KNOW:
GUILLAUME HEBERT
Hi Guillaume!
Congratulations on being shortlisted
for the Cluster Photography Residency 2021
I Lie | from the series The Truth | 2019
How would you introduce yourself
to the Cluster readers?
I’d say I'm a passenger. A traveler with eyes to see.
A stranger. A fierce visitor in search of beauty.
An adventurer with an artistic sensibility.
I don't know exactly... Maybe I prefer not to see myself.
Being called an artist is a generic term
that doesn't mean much anymore!
How did you get here
on your creative journey?
It's fate, I guess. We have to find a reason to live.
I decided to believe that my life is dedicated to art.
Each Carries His Own Cross II | 2019
Twin Candlestick Islets | 2017
What drew you to photography?
These are the trips. The discovery of other lands. Also, a camera is easy to use,
it's within everyone's reach. One click and you're done.
Easy to transport, compact, it’s always there.
The Seats | from the series Updated Landscape | 2020
Tell us about the work you submitted...
Updated Landscape is a series that I started in 2017 when I was living in Taiwan.
It’s still ongoing today. It follows all my movements. To summarise, the series is about how humans have transformed the landscape of Earth over the centuries.
The trace of humans and their effects are omnipresent. We have entered
the Anthropocene era. By associating painting with photography the Updated Landscape series attempts to describe this passage of time, exploring transformation
from territorial engineering and the effects of urbanization. Updated Landscape ironically depicts an ecological and cultural tragedy under the yoke of social and political order.
How would you describe your creative style
and way of working?
My style is pictorial. I combine photography with reproductions
of master paintings. No doubt because I started with painting
and my eyes were shaped by it.
Apocalypse 21| from the series Apocalypse | 2020
Keywords to define your imagery?
Photography; painting; irony; beauty; time; romanticism.
Pieter De Hooch House | from the series Updated Landscape | 2020
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
The smell of croissants.
Sleeper 20 | from the series Coffee Nap | 2015
Ban 8 | from the series Being and Nothingness | 2015
Social media and you: the good, the bad and the ugly.
Tell us all...
I really have a hard time with social media.
It takes up so much time that I don't use it often.
I protect myself from it.
Who are your idols?
There are many artists whose work I really appreciate.
Mostly painters or photographers but not completely... Gerhard Richer, Thomas Ruff, Peter Doig, Constable, Turner, Elger Esser,
Thomas Demand, Antony Gormley, Ai Weiwei...to name a few.
Elusive Landscape 126 | from the series Somewhere | 2019
Untitled 6 | from the series Untitled | 2020
What’s on your creative calendar for the near future?
Honestly, I don’t know.
In these uncertain times it's hard to plan.
Personal motto/mantra?
Persist in believing. Keep the faith.
The Exile | from the series The Rock Of The Exiles | 2016
Tips, tricks and secrets for making it in the art
I don’t know. How do you measure success?
Is Van Gogh better than Picasso? It's the business of fate!
Blue Stone 8 | from the series Blue Stone | 2018
Works by Guillaume Hebert are available through the Cluster Shop
Thank you for reading,
Valeria, Daniel & Cluster Team.
You can find Guillaume also on:
his website