An Approach: Dianatura

The iris as a gateway between the external and internal worlds

During a visit to the Strasbourg Institute of Physics and Chemistry, I discovered an old mechanical diaphragm, once used in optics to modulate and decompose light. Through a system of slats that open and close, this instrument controls the flow of light and adjusts its components. Fascinated by its aesthetic, which is both scientific and poetic, I wanted to photograph it.

When the physicist discovered my work, he handed me the diaphragm, saying simply: ‘It belongs to you now; that’s obvious. ’ That quiet certainty surprised me. The object I had handled with such care, mindful of its rarity, was offered to me as if it had always belonged to me. That gesture transformed a scientific instrument into one of my most precious possessions, a testament to an encounter where art and science recognised one another.

As I photographed it, I sensed a striking parallel. This diaphragm functions like that of a camera, regulating the amount of light entering the lens. But it also evokes the iris of the human eye, that living membrane which contracts and dilates to filter external light and transform it into visual information.

The Dianatura series of photographs explores this threefold resonance. The diaphragm becomes a metaphor for the iris, and the iris for consciousness itself. As the gaze intensifies and focuses, the relationship between the observer and the observed deepens.

Observation can then become immersion: perception intensifies to the point where the boundaries between the observer and the observed seem momentarily to dissolve.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)