peine de coeur (2022) Photography by Philippe Bastin

Philippe Bastin, artist photographer, pursued artistic studies at university in Saint-Étienne, France. For 30 years, he worked as a teacher in Plastic Arts.

His gaze falls on the walls of cities as he travels. He strives to reveal a form of urban poetry that refers to the pictorial and narrative aspect.

He frames, isolates and lets himself be captivated by an image, a texture, a composition in which he sometimes projects a story, a representation.

Traces of the past, degradation, wear and tear are his favorite materials. It is at the heart of the ugliness, the sordid and the decay that he pays all his attention.

And it is painting that feeds his imagination. That's where he comes from. His photographs are ultimately rather paintings. Indeed, he considers painting with his camera.

He wanders through a city, a neighborhood, without a specific goal, brushing against the walls, taking his time. He lets himself be surprised by an accident, a tear, by the cancer that eats away cement, iron and paint, by a root that finds its place...

Philippe lives and works in Saint-Étienne, France. Born in 1967, he expresses his artistic vision through his photographs which testify to the singular beauty of urban walls and their ability to tell stories.

• Nationality: FRANCE
• Date of birth : 1967
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary French Artists