My Highlight of Paris Photo 2025 - Greytree and Heavensea

Heavensea 21, Loredana Nemes. 2020

In her latest series Greytree and Heavensea (2019-2023), Loredana Nemes wandered through the calm nature of the island of Rügen. Using her usual palette of colours with infinite greys and exclusively in portrait format, she captured the beech forest, its clearings, and the views of the sea in the cycle of the four seasons. The audience is left amazed, almost meditating in front of the detailed silver gelatin prints, becoming part of a symphony, a total work of art. An intense and poetic experience lived through a spirit of analytical observation, capable of capturing the purest beauty of a nature both ancient and fragile.

“Breathing is easier in Sassnitz. There, a faster light and the leaves in May like butterflies on the delicate branches. The ground around the beeches seems closer, no need for escape. The muscles relax. Grey trees that know me: from the Carpathian Ridge I come, from a beech land left behind. In Sassnitz, a sea at the edge of the forest. It cannot snap at me. It throws back the light and knows all the greys. Then we stand at this edge with arms and branches and roots that grasp and nourish each other, and nothing hurts anymore.”

This was absolutely the highlight of the Paris Photo exhibition. It showed what’s possible when you stop and consider your connection to the world. Nemes’ creations feel surreal, otherworldly. This is exactly what I’m trying to achieve with Dystopia - present the real world as if it’s a simulation but still entirely possible. The final images are a technical triumph and is certainly something to strive for with my own work. I purchased her publication Graubaum und Himmelmeer in Paris which, similarly to Marc Wilson’s book, made me consider the output of my own project. Nemes got her work published externally so there are plenty of options I can explore. The quality of printing is excellent and, financially, it would be easier to put the book into production if a submission is accepted. However, any profits would most likely have to be split between myself and the publisher.