horizons

In horizons, Jean-Michel Lenoir presents a contemplative body of photographic work drawn from his book of the same name, bringing together skyscapes, seascapes, and liminal landscapes shaped by light, color, and time. Organized chromatically into Ocean, Clouds, Pastel, and Twilight, the exhibition unfolds as a visual meditation on the horizon—not as a boundary, but as a space of projection, introspection, and poetic possibility.

Lenoir’s relationship to photography began in adolescence, when the slowness and uncertainty of film demanded patience, imagination, and anticipation. Though contemporary image-making has been transformed by speed, technology, and the pursuit of virality, Lenoir remains committed to a slower, more spiritual practice. His work resists spectacle in favor of quiet intensity, privileging presence, restraint, and sustained looking.

Deeply influenced by artists such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Mark Rothko, Lenoir embraces simplicity, timelessness, and chromatic nuance as guiding principles. The horizon becomes a field of textures and tonal shifts: waves oscillating between serenity and turmoil, clouds acting as messengers of emotion, and color functioning as a psychological and sensorial language. Blue, in particular, occupies a central role: at once enveloping, infinite, and deeply intimate.

The Ocean series explores the sea’s mercurial states, where movement, rhythm, and emotion mirror the human interior. Clouds introduce an element of impermanence and imagination, while Pastel compositions soften the visual field, offering warmth, ambiguity, and subtle disorientation. Twilight marks a threshold—between day and night, clarity and mystery—where light dissolves and time seems suspended.

With horizons, Lenoir returns to nature as both subject and refuge, celebrating fleeting moments: a sunbeam grazing the sea, the last glow of a setting sun, the quiet pause before dawn. The exhibition invites viewers to slow down, to dwell in nuance, and to rediscover the profound emotional resonance of the simplest natural phenomena.

Jean-Michel Lenoir is a French photographer whose work has been exhibited internationally, including in Paris, New York, and Geneva. His photographs are held in limited editions and published widely. Alongside his artistic practice, he has led landscape photography workshops worldwide for over a decade.