Everyone has seen images of the boat skeletons littering the shores of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Many reporters have covered the sufferings of this population whose bare hands and feet blister from working in the pollution and acid.

Francesca Piqueras had no intention of merely witnessing this apocalypse, rather she wanted to reveal the ghosts of these phantom cities. Her initial intention was to cover the final days of the France cruise liner during its dismantling in the Alang bay. Drastic restrictions prevented her from any photographic access to the ship, and she was denied access to the people working at Chittagong where any recorded image was controlled and scrutinized. Impressed by the imposing nature of the monstrous skeletons, she opted to observe them as sculptures, landscapes of iron in permanent transformation. The aesthetic references construct an inquisitive image. Indeed, behind the “beautiful” can be witnessed the drama, similar to “Bright landscapes for dark days” presented in 2009 in the same gallery.

“Architecture of Absence” exhibits 14 color prints measuring 60×80cm and more. A book with Olivier Rolin’s written text is in the works.

The human side can be seen in a different gallery with a few prints from a photographic story about Bénarés where traditional images are displayed alongside very disturbing pictures of cremations.
Bernard Perrine
Correspondant de l’Institut de France
BernardPerrine@Le-Photographe.net

“Architecture of Absence”
14 January thru 12 February, 2011
Galerie de l’Europe
55 rue de Seine
75006 Paris

Until february 25
Images de Bénares
Maison des Indes
7 Place St Sulpice
75006 Paris