Photographer Rémi Noël’s Magical Road Trip Across America
Words by Kiriakos Spirou
Location
French photographer Rémi Noël is not one to carry a camera at all times photographing non-stop; rather, his work consists exclusively of black and white images taken during trips to the United States. Fascinated by the way America has been portrayed in the work of Jack Kerouac, Edward Hopper and Robert Frank, Noël travels every year to the USA for a few days, usually in southern states like California and Texas. Thanks to his meditative approach and creativity, the photographer captures magical, unexpected scenes while on his journeys, creating precious monochrome Americana that could also be viewed as fragments of a story that is constantly unfolding.
Rémi Noël, The Dark Knight, Uvalde. Courtesy of the artist.
Rémi Noël, Small car, Dallas. Courtesy of the artist.
Rémi Noël, Third Avenue, New York. Courtesy of the artist.
Rémi Noël, Self-portrait, Uvalde. Courtesy of the artist.
Through each photograph, a world of magical realism gradually emerges, where Noël plays the role of a fictional narrator accompanied by an adventurous Batman action figure and a tiny car that wants to do big things. Traversing a world that appears to be empty of people, the photographer manages to portray the essence of a moment or feeling in a very immediate and precise way — a talent partly owed to the fact that Noël has been working in advertising companies for over ten years now. Quite poetically, his images are like pictures of silence which, in all their innocence and intelligent simplicity, draw us into the very centre of a captivating, yet mysterious, emotional journey.
Rémi Noël, Teddy Bears, Phoenix. Courtesy of the artist
Rémi Noël, Skate America. Courtesy of the artist.
Rémi Noël, Wild open spaces, Marfa. Courtesy of the artist.
Rémi Noël, Mount Batman, Midland. Courtesy of the artist.
Rémi Noël, Visiting Edward Hopper, New Braunfelds. Courtesy of the artist.
Rémi Noël, Poetry Wanted, Albuquerque. Courtesy of the artist.
Rémi Noël, Perched on a tree, Texas. Courtesy of the artist.
Rémi Noël, Pickwick Arms Hotel, New York. Courtesy of the artist.