Part of an ongoing series of works, Dark Zoo started off as an attempt to photograph animal portraits that concentrated on, and conveyed the animal affection whilst discounting the reconstituted and precast environment found in most zoos.
Playing on contrasts and framing to produce a graphically minimalistic series, most of the adjustments were done during the shooting. The objective was to catch the darkest background available to isolate the animalsʼ expressions and emotions. Many photos were discarded in the process of trying to omit the backgrounds with nominal post editing.
Nicolas shot all the images in three zoos in France, without access to the dens, shooting animals as an ordinary visitor. The series may have started in the zoo, but Nicolas hopes to extend this body of work to photographing animals in their natural environments as well.
A native of Granville, Normandy (France), Nicolas Evariste picked up the camera at a mature age of
21. Five years on, he remains faithful to the black and white, duotones and square format photography
that he initially fell in love with.
Originally trained as a graphic designer, Nicolas appropriated his skills as a designer into his
photography. Giving him an additional set of skills in his creative process and an unconventional
approach to photography that is intriguing and captivating. Currently, he spends a considerable amount
of his time photographing for both his personal satisfaction and professional development.
Normandy boasts of a coast raided by storms that provide stark contrast to the softness and fragility of
the wilderness in the area. It is of no wonder that these environments sculpted his interest in landscape
photography, in macro and in animal photography and the dark style that?s ever present in much of his
work.
A true connoisseur of the expressions of an image, Nicolas enjoys anything related to the picture. He
enjoys not only photography, but painting, cinema and literature as well.
www.nicolas-evariste.fr
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Medium/Material:
Giclée print on semi-matte archival paper
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