Projecting 3D images on buildings was surely considered a dull alternative by French photographer Clement Briend, who ultimately used trees as a medium for images of Cambodian deities and spirits.
Photographers do not usually create the things they are about to take a picture of, or at least not at such a large scale. Seeing that this professor of photography at the University of Valenciennes gives equal importance to taking pictures and mapping them is nothing short of impressive, especially considering the medium he uses for the projection.
Clement Briend lives and works in Paris, France, but the photographies from the Cambodian Trees series were made, as the name suggests, in Cambodia. To be more specific, these were shot around Phnom Penh, the capital of this country.
As mentioned in the introduction, the images projected onto the trees are spirits and deities from the Cambodian mythology. These look as if they were picked directly from Angkor Wat. Photography as an art cannot exist without light, but Clement Briend decided to use light in a magic way.
Obviously, darkness is also necessary for making these projection come to life properly and live up to their fullest potential. The surrounding darkness improves the contrast and helps the projected deities and spirits to look more real. In fact, it is as if the trees are sculptured in the shape of these gods. At least, this is the impression that some of these photographies leave. I must admit that not only the idea of projecting images of tree is incredibly original, but also the subject of the images.
Only 6 photographies are featured here, out of the 12 that the Cambodian Trees series includes. The ones who want to see the entire series, as well as other works by this extremely inspired photograph, are free to check his website.
Should you want to buy a print of any of the photographies featured in this post, you will have to head to Wall30, a Web site specialized in selling limited edition photographies made by various artists. As the name of the website suggests, each photography is printed out in 30 exemplars.
Besides Cambodian Trees, other two series of Clement Briend are featured on this site: In Berlin and White. One thing to keep in mind is that these photographies are not exactly cheap. Their price ranges between 250 and 300 Euros, depending on the dimension that you prefer.
If you liked this post, please check the Rube Goldberg projection mapping and the laser backpack for 3D mapping.
