Saturday, March 10, 2018

BELINDA FUENTES REVIEWS CHRISTIAN BERTHELOT


            French artist, Christian Berthelot’s series, CESAR was inspired by the birth of his son during an emergency caesarean. Through a six-month training and permission from parents, Berthelot was able to shoot in a surgical environment during emergency C-sections. Personally, on his first day in the surgical room, Berthelot, in a sense relived his own experience when shooting these babies. The beauty of these images emerges with knowing that these babies were captured at only a few seconds of being in this world. Berthelot captures these babies at the purest moment of their lives, not yet corrupted by the outside world. Further, for those who have not experienced birth other than our own, Berthelot exposes the reality of what babies look like when they are born, the image before the babies are cleaned and exposed to the world. Additionally, the shapes of the babies’ body in which both the doctor and the babies collectively form are captivating. The forms are authentic and unapologetic. With the use of the dramatic spotlight lighting, these images are reminiscent of paintings depicting the carrying of Jesus. At this point in life, these babies cannot hold themselves up and mimic the same body language of Jesus as he lays limp in the arms of his people, particularly seen in the image of baby Liza.


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