Olivier Roller

Olivier Roller (born 1972 in Strasbourg), is a French photographer based in Paris. He specializes in photographic portraits, and since 2009 he has been creating photographic frescos. The images are about figures of power, and portraits of the "emperors of today", which he confronts and compares to the faces of the past, from antiquity to Napoleon.

Olivier Roller par Claude Truong-Ngoc mars 2015

Biography

After studying political science and law studies in Strasbourg, Olivier Roller became a photographer.

He describes power and influence in France in the beginning of the 21st century, through the individuals who represent them (ministers, financials, advertisers, media leaders…)

If the power is immutable, men of power are friable. […] What is photographed is a changing power, pending, maybe disappearing. […] The power is that dream to challenge time, knowing that time will be stronger. […] The men of power knows what he lost

— Olivier Roller

The beginnings

Olivier's first portrait was of his grandfather in 1994, in a very tight frame and devoid of artifices. The image urges the viewer to go beyond the clichés of the portrait: to smile, stand straight, be beautiful.

While he was still a student, he found his voice and a new means to communicate through Photography. To find faces to photograph, he approached many writers and filmmakers, who were promoting their work in bookstores and venues. This promptly lead to the press giving him assignments.

Jeanne Moreau

While on assignment, Oliver followed Jeanne Moreau to a film festival in Belgium. Back in Paris, he contacted her to ask if he could photograph her, this time not for any specific reason. He wanted to move away from assignments, to instead photograph the subjects more authentically and more real. This photograph is now the cover of the book Visage by Bruno Chibane, gathering 20 years of portraits of assignments of Olivier Roller.

Figures of power

In 2008, the Musée du Louvre gave him a carte blanche in the following terms "would you like to work on the equivalent of Sarkozy (French president) and Fillon (Sarkozy' prime minister), 2000 years ago?". He spent every Tuesday (public closure’ day) for six months, all alone in the Gallery of Antiques.

From the following year, he set out to confront the faces of today's "emperors" (financiers, publicists, intellectuals, diplomats, politicians, etc.) with their counterparts of the past (from the Roman emperors to Napoleon). He contacts the men of power, proposes to them to come to make a portrait in his studio, and to become a face hanging on the wall of an exhibition. This project is still in progress.

The influence of surfing

In the collective book West is the Best, Olivier Roller speaks about his surfing practice, that he compares to photography.

Being in the ocean, in the middle of the waves, allows him to not think and just to be present. He describes this practice as "a symbolic vehicle for advancement," and explains that surfing has allowed him "to reach a certain animality" and "reconnect with reality". Olivier Roller explains that he loves the shifting, unpredictable and even disappointing side of surfing. The same applies to photography. He compares photography to the ocean: " (it) has nothing against you, but you will never be able to dominate it, you just have to be humble."

Exhibitions

Publications
  • Années 2010
    • 2016: Nefta[18] - Éditions de l'Air, des livres.[19] Photographies prises dans les environs de Nefta dans le desert Tunisien, lieu de tournage des premiers Star Wars. ISBN 978-2-9526699-5-5
    • 2015: Visage mis à nu - Regard sur 20 ans de portraits - 304 pages - 200 portraits[20]. Sous la direction de Bruno Chibane. Contributions ou interviews de Rodolphe Burger, Jean-Claude Brisseau, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Christophe Donner, Clara Dupont-Monod, Mike Hodges, Julia Kerninon, André S. Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy, Nathalie Quintane... Chic Média Éditeur ISBN 978-2-9544852-0-1
    • 2011: 10 MAI 81, une journée particulière,[21] accompagnée de textes d'Emmanuel Lemieux, Bourin Éditeur ISBN 978-2-84941-231-2
  • Années 2000
    • 2007: Face(s),[22] 31 écrivains réagissent au portrait qu'Olivier Roller a fait d'eux, éditions Argol ISBN 978-2-91597-821-6
    • 2005: Clarita's Way[23] (bilingue français - anglais), exergue de Gertrude Stein, postface de Clara Dupont-Monod, traduction de Philippe Aronson, L'opossum Éditions ISBN 978-295209-420-7
    • 2002: Aperghis, kaléidoscope d'une résidence, textes d'Isabelle Freyburger, Jempresse Éditions & Desmaret ISBN 978-291367-523-0

References
  1. "Exposition - Théâtre du pouvoir - Petite Galerie | Musée du Louvre | Paris". 2017-05-17. Retrieved 2017-06-21..
  2. "Exposition de photos d'Olivier Roller – Palazzo Altemps – Spazio Nuovo |". www.nuovimecenati.org (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  3. "Le festival Croisements va de l'avant !". La France en Chine (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  4. Multimedia, Pôle Sud Production. "Oser la photographie : 50 ans d'une collection d'avant garde à Arles". www.museereattu.arles.fr. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  5. "Mobilier national : Expositions / Expositions précédentes". www.mobiliernational.culture.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  6. "a l l e r dehors - La criée". www.criee.org (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  7. "Visions des Lumières Musée Cognacq-Jay". Artscape (in French). 20 February 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  8. "Mon ile de montmajour".
  9. Alsace20 (2013-09-16). "Expo "Figures du pouvoir" à La Filature". YouTube. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  10. "Photographie olivier roller figures du pouvoir au muse 769 e des moulages lyon 3e - - Tribune de Lyon". www.tribunedelyon.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  11. "Portraits photographique du pouvoir et de l'influence par Olivier Roller | Actuphoto". fr.actuphoto.com (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  12. Spazio Nuovo (2013-04-25). "Olivier Roller - Spazio Nuovo Gallery, Rome - 2013". YouTube. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  13. "ISFCI & FotoLeggendo presentano 'Figures du pouvoir' di Olivier Roller". ISFCI BLOG (in Italian). 21 September 2011. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  14. "Figures du Pouvoir - GDD". www.grangededorigny.ch (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  15. "Empereurs romains et autres figures du pouvoir au Musée […] - Art Côte d'Azur". www.artcotedazur.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  16. "Exposition d'Olivier Roller Figures du Pouvoir, portraits d'Olivier Roller". fukuoka-fr.blogspot.fr. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  17. "Interview d'Olivier Roller | NEON Magazine". neon.color-lounge.com (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  18. "Nefta".
  19. "de l'air, des livres – de l'air, le magazine qui donne à voir". www.delair.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  20. "Face(s)".
  21. "olivier roller photographer - mai 1981". www.olivierroller.com. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  22. "Olivier roller photographer - faces".
  23. "olivier roller photographer - clarita's way". www.olivierroller.com. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
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