French photographer Laurent Segretier champions true beauty in his elegant and sophisticated compositions. Drawing inspiration from the layers of paint in a finished canvas, Segretier manipulates the camera to replicate the same subtleties of light and form. Like Man Ray and other early masters of the medium, Segretier takes delight in the paradox between the mechanics of picture taking and the organic nature of the human form and light.

Segretier’s successful commercial work reads like a who’s who of famous faces and luxury brands but his work in the industry simultaneously provoked an enquiry into the kind of imagery championed in contemporary society and splashed across the pages of glossy magazines. In both his Pixel and Underwater series, Segretier refers to these simulated versions of reality and breaks away, revitalizing the human form as a photographed subject. In his Pixel works the artist takes his own commercial photographic work as the genesis, and breathes new life into the image by smashing the computer screen that displays the work and then re-photographing the result. The images are highly pixilated and damaged, creating a surreal, almost abstract effect. Only small features like an eye or a mouth are discernible and only as monochromatic shadows. The artist literally smashes his past to make way for his future.The same motivations lies behind the ephemeral Underwater series where a model is seen floating underwater, her dress no longer a product; de-commodified it instead recalls Ophelia’s gown or classical drapery. The human form seems suspended; gravity and the world at large appear to be absent. The works are poetic, luminous and dreamlike. Having grown up on an Island the artist describes the series as his most autobiographical, relating to his intimate connection with water.

Segretier received his Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication from Nice Business School and has worked in Hong Kong, China and France as a commercial photographer for nearly ten years. In March 2010 Segretier exhibited his fine art work in Beijing and is currently collaborating with street artists Kongo and CEET who were exhibited at the Grand Palais TAG exhibition and at Fondation Cartier.