“A neo-aesthete of Belgian postmodern photography, Eric Ceccarini questions the photographic medium by entering into a dialogue with a painter through the plasticity of a model engaged in her pose, illuminated only by direct daylight.”
The Painters Project is a meeting between a painter, a model, and a photographer.
The female body becomes a canvas, the painter draws inspiration from its sensuality, and the photographer captures its magic.
Launched in Brussels in 2012, the project is an invitation to painters from all over the world. Each photograph is a collaboration with one of them. To date, there have been more than 130 such encounters.
Painters take turns expressing their art on the bodies of the models in their own style, while Ceccarini searches for the right attitudes and the best poses. The photograph becomes the one and only trace of this ephemeral work—a fusion of three artistic visions.
The large format of the prints enhances each pictorial detail, revealing the aesthetic and evocative power of the marks painted on these bodies. The poses captured by Ceccarini convey the emotions of the models, who themselves become works of art. Color and substance play the leading roles.
“Merging our visions and our arts, our instruments and our tools, is an innovative approach—extremely enriching and exciting, and the opposite of the artist’s eternal solitude.”
For many of these painters, it is a first experience of this kind. They must adapt to a place, a light, and a “medium” that are completely different from what they are accustomed to.
“It is alive. The movements and poses also influence the lines… You have to adapt to the environment. You have to adjust, tame it, and run your brushes over a three-dimensional canvas. You discover a profile, a back, a majestically revealed curve.”
The body and the final work merge to achieve the sublime.
About Eric Ceccarini
Eric Ceccarini was born in 1965 and is of Italian origin. A Belgian national, he graduated in photography in 1987 and has spent most of his photographic career working around the world.
Ceccarini has extensive experience in the demanding fields of fashion and advertising. He has worked successfully with numerous agencies, brands, and magazines, including Elle, Marie Claire, L’Oréal, Levi’s, Coca-Cola, Virgin, Saab, Delvaux, and Chopard, among others. His photograph for a Saab Cabrio campaign was awarded a Silver Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.
For several years, Ceccarini has been developing a personal approach based on the study of the body in natural light and without artifice. His images are soft, velvety, and highly painterly. His work pays respectful tribute to the beauty of the female body.
It was through the series NUDES (2006) and AMNIOS (2008) that Ceccarini began to move beyond his established status as a commercial photographer. He subsequently decided to devote himself entirely to his personal artistic projects.
Using a large-format technical camera, Polaroid, or digital SLR, Ceccarini captures the unique character of each of his models, revealing a sublime sensuality that at times borders on abstraction. His artistic research is driven by a desire to capture the essence and soul of his subjects and to transcend the purely physical dimension.
The monumental scale of his prints further enhances the restrained power and presence of the women portrayed in his work. [Official Website]
