Mystic ascent
Grande Arche, La Défense, France · 2022
From 195 €
Limited edition of twenty prints, all sizes and materials combined. Each print is signed, numbered and delivered with a certificate of authenticity.
Choose your print
My advice for this photo
- Material
- Aluminium DibondOn fine art paper, I would choose a baryta paper.
- Framing
- Floater frame · Black
The steps of the Grande Arche in alternating bands: Aluminium Dibond, perfectly flat, renders this graphic rhythm crisply.
- Made to order: usually two to three weeks in mainland France and Europe
- Signed-for Colissimo delivery or, depending on the country, a pickup point; courier for Large and Extra large sizes and some framed prints
- Fourteen days to change your mind
- Card, SEPA Direct Debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link or PayPal
Another size or material? Ask for a quote →
The story behind the photo
The great flight of steps under the Grande Arche, photographed so that the treads run across the whole frame as alternating bands of white and black, with a single man climbing them at the top right. Nothing else is in the picture except the white wall of the Arche.
This is an image made entirely of stripes, and the only decision that mattered was where to put the climber. On the centre line he would have divided the frame; at the edge he would have looked accidental. Placed a third of the way in, on the rising diagonal, he sets the direction the whole picture then follows.
Low sun is what turns a staircase into a barcode. Each riser throws a shadow onto the tread below it, and at the right angle the shadow is exactly as wide as the lit part; that is where the regularity of the alternation comes from.
The steps of the Arche are one of the great public staircases of greater Paris, and almost nobody climbs them. The people who do are mostly running.
I wanted an abstraction that is also a documentary photograph, and a man climbing towards something the frame refuses to show.
- Location
- Grande Arche, La Défense, France
- Date
- 2022
- Gallery
- Street scenes
Sizes and prices
| Size | Fine art paper | Aluminium Dibond | Acrylic glass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small30 × 45 cm | 195 € | 300 € | 425 € |
| Medium40 × 60 cm | 275 € | 450 € | 640 € |
| Large60 × 90 cm | 440 € | 670 € | 1 010 € |
| Extra large80 × 120 cm | 580 € | 900 € | 1 470 € |
Price of the print alone, without frame, VAT included. Print dimensions in centimetres; a frame makes them larger.
Materials
Hahnemühle fine art papers (Photo Rag, Museum Etching, Fine Art Baryta…), chosen for each photograph.
Print mounted on 3 mm aluminium Dibond: rigid, light, no glazing.
Print set between 3 mm Dibond and an acrylic sheet: richer colour and depth, resistant to UV and humidity.
Framing, optional
For paper prints: white mount and Plexiglas glazing, museum glass optional.
For aluminium and acrylic: the photo seems to float inside its frame; black or white.
For aluminium and acrylic: an aluminium structure fixed to the back, invisible once hung.
Delivery and returns
Signed-for delivery by Colissimo or, depending on the country, to a pickup point; signed-for delivery by courier for Large and Extra large sizes and some framed prints. Usually two to three weeks in mainland France and Europe, thirty to forty-five days for the French overseas territories and other countries.
Read article 9 of the Terms and Conditions →Fourteen days from receipt to change your mind, except for a print made to a special request. Returns are at your expense.
Read article 10 of the Terms and Conditions →Card, SEPA Direct Debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link or PayPal. The print is made once payment has been received.
Read article 8 of the Terms and Conditions →Lead times, delivery, payment, returns: the answers are in the frequently asked questions. For another size, another material or advice on hanging, write to me.
Read the frequently asked questions →Contact me →
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