Dusky pink clouds. Olive green skies. Cracked white walls and peeling paint. These are surreal dreamscapes by Alizé Jireh, in which bodies become one with their environments. Figures lie on plastic playground slides, for example, run through vast fields or emerge from garden bushes.
Jireh is a photographer and filmmaker who, after working in the commercial and documentary sphere for six years, has recently stepped into conceptual art. “All of these images – except for one (shot in Illinois, US, as shown above) – were taken after a 30-day North Atlantic crossing,” the artist explains.
“We landed in the Azores, where I had the opportunity to play with, and process, the experience. The photos I took during this time resemble someone seeking the comfort of home.” Houses and other built structures feature heavily in this series, with subjects shown always on the outside looking in.
Elsewhere, characters dressed in pink and blue sneak into buildings and are found climbing exterior walls. It’s a visual metaphor for Jireh’s driving forces: curiosity and desire to peer inward. The photographer is interested in “the intensity of human emotion: innocence, solitude, observation, sensuality.”
These images stand out for their distinctive use of colour grading – creating a mood which is at once wistful, nostalgic and contemplative, treading the line between comfort and disquiet. There’s something otherworldly about the skies, like the sun has been blocked out or a strange storm is brewing overhead.
Image Credits:
1. Shot in Flores, Azores , August, 2022, by Alizé Jireh.
2. Shot in Illinois, USA June 2022, by Alizé Jireh.
3. Shot in Terceira, Azores, August, 2022, by Alizé Jireh.
4. Shot in Flores, Azores, August, 2022, by Alizé Jireh.
5. Shot in Flores, Azores, August, 2022, by Alizé Jireh.
6. Shot in Terceira, Azores, August, 2022, by Alizé Jireh.
