Seb Janiak

Seb Janiak is a French photographer and video director of Polish origin.[1][2][3] In 2009, after an international career making music clips and working as a fashion photographer, he turned to artistic and scientific research in the field of art photography.

In 2007 and 2008, he worked with the gallery Art Photo Expo, which presented his photographs, in particular at the contemporary art fair Art Basel Miami Beach (at the 2007[4][5] and 2008[6][7] events).

His first book of art photographs was published at the end of 2011 by the Swiss-based Zauberkind Edition, with a preface written by Philippe Starck.[8]

Biography

In 25 years of taking photos, Seb Janiak[9] has explored regions of striking diversity. To draw up an inventory of them would be something like establishing a map of all the possibilities afforded by the photographic medium, so vast is their scope.[10] Thanks to the accelerating progress made throughout the history of photography, the new technical possibilities threw the field open to images of a new kind.[11] But only a handful of individuals managed to develop an artistic language and to trace a path in the terra incognita being opened up by the new tools they now had at their disposal. It's a fair bet that even fewer of them provide innovative answers to the problems posed by the previous generations. Seb Janiak is one of these. From his matte paintings[12] which, in the mid-1980s, were revolutionary by the digital techniques they used and the unprecedented visions they offered, to his latest laser-beam photographs taken through a prism,[13] which seek to capture light in its original purity without any use of artifice (just like the founding fathers of photography did in the first half of the nineteenth century[14]), Janiak has managed to maintain a form of overall coherence while covering all the possibilities available in the field of photography. This coherence is all the more remarkable given the major revolution that photography has gone through over the past thirty years with the advent of digital technologies. Seb Janiak is the prisoner of no school and of no period, but draws his inspiration from the complexity of the world around him, to use - and reveal through his photographs - the dynamic tension between opposites.

The intensity of his creative energy is also that of his existence, as measured between success and retreat, surface and depth, or attachment and transcendence.

First of all, for a young freelance graphic designer who did not necessarily see himself as an artist but who wanted above all to give free rein to his curiosity, it was a matter of experimenting with an instrument he discovered by chance, which opened up a way to devising stunning-looking images.

In 1987, the Quantel Paintbox made it possible to digitally compose and touch up pictures. Seb Janiak was one of the first to use it for purposes other than those of its initial fields of application (television and cinema) to create photographic images for exhibition. In these photographs, scenes of frenzied fantasty were rendered with a hitherto unequalled degree of realism.[15] A new aesthetic of the photographic image could be seen emerging. Thanks to the digital assembly of different shots taken all over the world, large-scale images showing a world of science-fiction assumed the staggering transparency of photography.[16]

These images of a new kind were to become a model for the two decades that followed. But Janiak still had to accomplish this before anyone else did.

In fact, Seb Janiak is a precursor, driven by an incessant desire to question the world through his observation of it, and use the means available to the artist to re-configure it.

His interest is inexhaustible in anything that enriches the understanding of reality, opens up new perspectives and creates meaning. Whether the phenomena concerned are institutionalized (religions, sciences, especially astrophysics) or marginal (esotericism, sensitive crystallization), Janiak's imagination draws from the sources of humanity in its infinite diversity, beyond places and times.

An overview of his work is enlightening in this respect, The success of his first digital photographs was followed by a meteoric rise in the field of international fashion. Being henceforth in a position to call upon substantial resources, Seb Janiak achieved notoriety and produced images that both spoke of their time and shaped it. From the still image, he naturally went on to video and very quickly some of the most influential musicians called on him to make their clips (Daft Punk,[17] Janet Jackson,[18] NTM,[19] Robbie Williams, etc.).

In 2001, after ten years of bustling activity, serious health problems forced him to change his life dramatically. Then in full control of his artistic craft, he resumed the course of his photographic experiments, free from the constraints of having to work to order. Enriching his work via many different sorts of influences, such as classical oriental texts (the Bardo Thodol, books on Chinese medicine, etc.) or the history of Western painting, Janiak over the years composed several series of works of striking force, in which the human presence gives way to nature and ideas.

The kingdom,[20] started in 2008, is an essential stage in this lengthy process. These large-scale photographs of tormented skies,[21] custodians of the fundamental energy revealed by the transformations of the clouds, are once more based on the techniques of digital editing which had begun with the matte paintings. Breath-taking in quality, they are followed by other equally striking series, in which Janiak portrays seemingly invisible forces that structure and modulate reality. It is as much a personal quest as a game for an artist who is driven by the urge not to simply stick to appearances. Janiak is kept constantly alert by his incessant questioning of the world, in response to which he shapes answers and proposals. In images.

Since 2011, he has set himself fresh constraints in his research, since he now limits himself to using only the means available to traditional analogue photography, namely double exposure,[22] overprinting and editing.[23]

This virtuoso of digital photography has given up what we might too quickly consider to be his key strength. This new economy of means is fertile, since it leads him to develop increasingly complex systems in the studio to be able to photograph magnetic fields using ferrofluids,[24] laser or solar rays (Visible light), or air bubbles (Vacuity) for his project "Manifestations of the Unseen".[25] In this respect, he is going back to the earliest photographic tradition, in which what is most important is the artist's hand, and the essential challenge is to capture light durably.

In what may be considered as an impulse towards the essence, one might even say towards a form of asceticism, Seb Janiak continues to express in images his reflections on human destiny, the world and its mysterious mechanisms, time and light. All of these phenomena in the making are constantly present in his work, and he investigates them all with the same detailed attention, in his quest to represent their perpetual renewal.

By Paul Frèches, Cultural Attaché at the Consulate General of France in Shanghai.[26]

List of works
Year Title Musician Type of work
1997 Burnin Daft Punk Music video
1997 Together Again Janet Jackson Music video[27]
1998 Judgement Day Method Man Music video
1999 FanMail TLC Photography
2002 3D TLC Photography
2005 Discopolis Kris Menace & Lifelike Music video

Video clips

Short films

Suprême NTM « Long form » «  Qu’est-ce qu’on attend pour foutre le feu » 1994 The Orion Conspiracy – 2009

"The Orion Conspiracy"[29] (la Conspiration d'Orion[30]). Documentaire-fiction. Durée : 20 minutes.

Sitges International Fantastic film festival[31] 2009, sélection officielle court métrage.

Photography
  • Série "Uchrony", 1987-1996
  • Série "Dark side of the Moon", 2010
  • Série "The Kingdom", 2009-2015
  • Série "Mimesis", 2012-2014

Projet "Manifestations de l'Invisible (Manifestations of the Unseen), 2011-2016

  • Série "Photon", 2012-2015
  • Série "Magnetic Radiation", 2011-2012
  • Série "Gravity" ("Liquid" et "Bulles d'air"), 2012-2015
  • Série "Resonance" ("Water drop")
  • Série "Morphogenetic field", 2015-2016

Expositions
  • 1987 : « Freeze Frame », première exposition de photo numérique International Network Vidéo et collaboration avec le designer Philippe Starck, Paris.
  • 1991
    • « Paris de 2044 à nos jours », exposition des premiers matte-painting (première mondiale). Ancien Musée des automates, Paris.
    • Sollicitation pour exposer les tirages à Berlin, Munich, Londres, Hong-Kong, Los Angeles.
  • 2001 : « Archeology of Elegance », Munich, Allemagne (Exposition itinérante : Tokyo, Japon / Metropolitan Museum Photography / Londres, Grande-Bretagne / Los Angeles, États-Unis / Milan, Italie).
  • 2002 : « Archeology of Elegance ». Deichtorhallen Museum, Hambourg.
  • 2006/07
    • « In Fashion Photo 07 », galerie Art Photo Expo dans le cadre de Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami. Commissaire : Marion de Beaupré[32] · .[33]
    • BAC Festival, Festival d’Art Contemporain de la ville de Barcelone, Espagne.
    • NOOVO International Fashion and Photography Festival. Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, Espagne.
  • 2008
    • Sh Contemporary Shanghai Art Fair ’08. Galerie Paul Frèches, Paris. -FIAC - Show Off, espace Pierre Cardin. Galerie Paul Frèches, Paris. -Photographies contemporaines / Art Valorem, Drouot.
    • « In Fashion Photo 08 » & « Naomi Campbell Retrospective », Art Photo Expo Galerie dans le cadre de Art Basel Miami Beach, Commissaire : Jean Luc Brunel Miami[34] · [35]
    • 2009 - Art Photo Expo Gallery, New York.
  • 2010 : FIAC off Chic Art Fair. Visionairs Gallery, Paris. -FIAC off Acces & Paradox. Visionairs Gallery, Paris.
  • 2011
    • Cutlog Contemporary Art Fair, Bourse du Commerce Paris. 20-23Octobre 2011. -Seb Janiak Art Book – présentation octobre 2011.
    • Fotofever, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris. 10-13 novembre 2011.
  • 2013
    • Berlin, Germany / Preview Berlin Art Fair / September 19–22[36]
  • 2014
    • MIA@D Fair Singapour, Visionairs gallery / oct 23-26 « The Kingdom », Fred Torres galerie, NY / nov 14 – mars 11[37]
  • 2015
    • Photo Shanghai sept/10-13 2015[38] Art Central Hong Kong / march 14-16 [39]
  • 2016
    • Solo-Project Basel Art Fair with Visionairs gallery Asia, June 2016[40] Kingdom solo show with Visionairs gallery Asia, May 2016 Singapore Contemporary Art Show with Visionairs gallery Asia. January 21–24, 2016[41]

References
  1. "Seb Janiak: A Visionary Artist". Huffington Post. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  2. "Seb Janiak Interview". Bak Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 November 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  3. "SEB JANIAK:I JUST FOLLOW MY INSTINCT AND THE POWER OF PRESENT TIME". Bak Magazine. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  4. Trebay, Guy (6 December 2007). "Work With Me, Baby". The New York Times.
  5. "Ocean Drive Magazine". www.siqueiros.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015.
  6. Villarreal, Ignacio. "Art Photo Expo Miami Presents In Fashion Photo During Art Basel 2008". artdaily.com.
  7. "It may be fashion, but is it art?". www.independent.co.uk.
  8. www.zauberking.com, Zauberking
  9. Janiak, Seb. "Seb Janiak — artist&photographer". www.sebjaniak.com. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  10. "SEB JANIAK Artist - Klassik Magazine". Klassik Magazine. 12 November 2015.
  11. "Naomi Campbell Photographed by Seb Janiak | 25th Century". www.25thcenturyyy.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013.
  12. Jesus. "How the Original Star Wars Trilogy Fooled Everyone With Matte Paintings". Sploid. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  13. Janiak, Seb. "Photon — Projects — Seb Janiak — artist&photographer". www.sebjaniak.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  14. "Gustave Le Gray, photo montage" (PDF). www.maisondoisneau.agglo-valdebievre.fr. 1 October 2016.
  15. "Les prix et les estimations des œuvres Seb Janiak". www.arcadja.com. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  16. "Seb Janiak, EMPTY KINGDOM". emptykingdom.net. Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  17. emimusic (6 March 2009). "Daft Punk - Burnin". Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  18. Pocholy448VEVO (31 December 2014). "Janet Jackson - Together Again (Official Video)". Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  19. NTMVEVO (31 July 2015). "Suprême NTM - La fièvre". Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  20. "8 Unbelievable Images Of Violent Skies". The Huffington Post. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  21. Mallonee, Laura. "Hundreds of Photos Make Up One of These Crazy Cloudscapes". WIRED. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  22. "Photo montage Le Gray" (PDF). www.maisondoisneau.agglo-valdebievre.fr. 1 November 2016.
  23. "Seb Janiak : Mimesis - The Eye of Photography". The Eye of Photography. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  24. "Manifestations of the Unseen: Photos by Seb Janiak".
  25. Janiak, Seb (11 November 2016). "Manifestations de l'invisible". Medium. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  26. "Organigramme". La France en Chine. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  27. From janet. to Damita Jo (Booklet). Janet Jackson. Virgin Records. 2004.CS1 maint: others (link)
  28. "VANITY 9 SEB JANIAK". www.metamusique.fr. 10 September 2001.
  29. LE ROBOT QUI RÊVAIT (11 August 2016). "THE ORION CONSPIRACY - 2008". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  30. LE ROBOT QUI RÊVAIT (11 August 2016). "LA CONSPIRATION D'ORION - 2008". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  31. "Sitges Film Festival - Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya". sitgesfilmfestival.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  32. Trebay, Guy (6 December 2007). "Work With Me, Baby". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  33. "Current Calender: Miami Beach Art Photo Expo | The Imagist". www.theimagist.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  34. Villarreal, Ignacio. "Art Photo Expo Miami Presents In Fashion Photo During Art Basel 2008". artdaily.com. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  35. "It may be fashion, but is it art?". Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  36. "PREVIEW BERLIN ART FAIR". www.previewberlin.com. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  37. Says, Curator (18 November 2013). "PICTURE THIS: The New Kingdom by Seb Janiak at Fred Torres Gallery". Arte Fuse. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  38. Panos. "PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai - International Art Fairs Dedicated to Photography". PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  39. "Art Central - Art Central Hong Kong". Art Central Hong Kong. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  40. "SEB Janiak | the-solo-project". www.the-solo-project.com. Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  41. www.hodfords.com, Web Design by Hodfords Production -. "ASIA CONTEMPORARY ART | Seb Janiak". www.asiacontemporaryart.com. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
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