Shadows of Chernobyl

Louis Jammes (born 1958, Carcassonne, France) began his creative career amid the stirrings of the figuration libre (free figuration) movement in 1980s France, establishing a distinctive style by subjecting his portrait shots to double exposure, special effects in the development process, and other techniques that created a multi-layered structure in the finished work with the photographic image thus becoming one element of an abstract expression.

Jammes is known for his photographs of Andy Warhol, Julian Schnabel, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and other famous artists, but equally for work that has taken him to the Berlin Wall, Iraq, Sarajevo, the Gaza Strip, Egypt, and many other scenes of international dispute and conflict where he has addressed more serious themes. Capturing images of people caught up in tragic situations, Jammes transforms them into artworks that bring out the inner dignity and beauty of the subject. This, his first solo exhibition in Japan, presents pieces from Chernobyl, which continues to experience the aftermath of the nuclear power station accident.