An upside down world... Photogrpaher Philippe Ramette

The French artist Philippe Ramette believes nothing should ever be faked. His improbable, gravity-defying poses might look like classic Photoshop, until you notice they are peppered with little incongruities. "You see a tension in my hands, my red face is far from serene as the blood rushes to it, my suit is ruffled."

A sculptor, Ramette rose to fame in the 90s as part of the French contemporary art scene, creating strange wooden and metal instruments and objects. Photography was the logical next step, and through it he has created an odd, neo-romantic universe, using a carefully planned, rational approach to create totally irrational situations. In France, his bizarre images have been compared to the work of Buster Keaton and the world of silent cinema. For him, they are a statement about gravity, weightlessness and man's relationship to the landscape.

Ramette, who still sees himself a sculptor rather than photographer, goes to extraordinary lengths to create his implausible set-ups, building hidden metal supports that he calls "sculpture-structures". Metal rings tether him by the ankles as he hangs motionless from the Grimaldi Forum building in Monaco (previous page), his trousers and tie strapped down and his hair gelled flat to give the impression of being upright. Above a winding road in southern France, a metal seat hidden by his suit juts out from a slab of rock, holding him up. Both photos are then turned on their heads. Every image is the exact reproduction of one of his drawings; sketches that he considers to be film storyboards, reconstructed by his faithful team while he directs the image. "I never question whether it's going to be complicated," he says.

In Balcony 2, he is standing on a balcony in the middle of Hong Kong harbour, contemplating the sky while seemingly managing to levitate above the water. He says the image first came to him in a dream in the mid-90s. For the shoot, a watertight tank served as an underwater float for the balcony, put in place by a barge and crane. Ramette then secured his feet on supports, leaned back and clung to the wood. During the initial attempts, he was soaked by waves and had to swim to safety.

He craves an effect of absolute, implausible serenity. For the series Rational Exploration Of The Undersea, he wore lead weights under his suit and around his ankles, having convinced a team of divers to work with him in a minutely rehearsed underwater escapade off Corsica. When Ramette needed air, a diver would swim over with an oxygen tank, but before shooting his team had to wait for the whipped up sand and bubbles to clear in order to achieve the effect of stillness. "There I was in a suit on the seabed, weighed down and able to walk underwater as if on land, unaffected by the currents. For me, that was a real pleasure," he smiles.

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Все эти его приемы, напряги и мужество с терпением. Мимо для меня.Просто не интересны фотографии.

14:24, 27 May 2010 reply
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Неплохо.

16:14, 27 May 2010 reply
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А вот и ты мой лаконичный друг! я уважаю твое мнение, но скажи, нафига ты пишешь, если тебе нечего сказать?

0:33, 28 May 2010 reply
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он не для тебя старается наверно))
тут больше для себя

17:08, 27 May 2010 reply
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классно))задумка интересная))

18:03, 27 May 2010 reply
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Интересно смотреть.

18:54, 27 May 2010 reply
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Креативно и тошнотно)))

21:13, 27 May 2010 reply
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не интересно

23:17, 27 May 2010 reply
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Креатив прет! "Неудобно спать на потолке, одеяло спадывает"

23:25, 27 May 2010 reply
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зациклился парень. снял 4-5 кадров, показал идею и в сторону. выбери лучшее, не надо грузить. сначала интересно, потом скучно.

0:43, 28 May 2010 reply
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да,с фантазией порядок.. )

1:00, 28 May 2010 reply
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add to favorites :)

1:48, 28 May 2010 reply
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+1!

15:25, 29 May 2010 reply
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великолепно

5:37, 28 May 2010 reply
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отлично

6:53, 28 May 2010 reply
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скажу как есть = дерьмо=с!))

21:28, 28 May 2010 reply
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НЕЙМОВІРНО!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)))))))))))))))

22:04, 28 May 2010 reply
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очень понравилось. эти фото быстро пролистать не удалось.

22:09, 29 May 2010 reply
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Прочла описание к альбому,просмотрела фото..
Что я могу сказать: загоняется чувак))
меня не впечатлило все это честно говоря,мне кажется это не тот случай,где нужно так стараться ради получения кадра...

1:33, 31 May 2010 reply
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Мне понравилось - интересная задумка, не корявое исполнение. Креативно

13:48, 31 May 2010 reply
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Такое шоу по моему нужно не на фото снимать, а вживую перед людьми показывать.

23:55, 31 May 2010 reply
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И что этими "трудностями" он хотел сказать?
Может фотошоп лень осваивать? Не впечатлило.

1:02, 13 June 2010 reply
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бедный дяхан под водой

21:10, 3 September 2010 reply
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меня просто ввел в ступор кадр где он в комнате 12, ну еще 26, как?! если здесь ни грамма фотошопа как было заявлено в начале.

22:23, 22 January 2011 reply
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Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.

19:11, 27 January 2011 reply