"Les Anges III"

gelatin silver print on aluminum, wooden frame

"The beauty of the world which is so soon to perish, has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder." A Room Of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf

The photographs present laughing, seductive eyes looking straight at the camera; or a strangely adult, thoughtful attitude, showing that the relationship with the photographer is fully understood; or playful attitudes, hands before eyes, either coy or artless. All, however, dispel any preconceived notion we might have of childhood candour and inexperience. Visible confrontations and emotions show us that any carefreeness has already been substantially altered by the life process and the models’ personality, which is subtly imprinted with their own form of maturity.
We are reminded that this period of life is not what it’s usually purported to be, it’s not what some convenient label tells us, i.e. future life consumers are unable to make choices or shape the world to their own liking. These faces are all about possibilities for self-expression, for change, for the future. But there is also a degree of hesitation that shows in the tension between laughter and anguish.
(François Delvoye, 2007)

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