Benjamin Salesse

A photographic object that attempts to salvage, to revive, to preserve something on the verge of disappearance, but itself frail, mortal, and destined to disappear. A stay of execution.

A photographic object that is molded and imprinted by the multiple forces at play in its creation.

A photographic object that doesn’t defy nature — encased in an air-tight, light protected, gravity-defying enclosure — but “a living organism” in transient state, that captures the beauty and tragedy of its condition.

Benjamin Salesse is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily with photography and video. His keen interest in the “shared fictions” that shape the human condition — politics, beliefs, histories — permeate his work as an image-maker. By leveraging the symbolic value of the photographic object — its strengths and shortcomings — he explores the themes of alienation, memory, and erasure. Born in France, Benjamin has lived and worked in New York for the past 15 years. He received a BFA in Graphic Design from the London College of Communication and an MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University.