Traces of human presence; Neverland by Krystel Marois

Krystel Marois is a photographer originally from Sherbrooke (Canada) who currently lives and works in Brisbane (Australia). She completed with honours a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) in 2010, with a major in Photography. She then moved to Berlin (Germany), where she worked from 2010 to 2013.

She participated in portfolio reviews in Montreal, Arles (France) and Braga (Portugal) and completed residencies in Evoramonte (Portugal) and Rimouski (Canada). Her work was featured in many online magazines as well as diverse printed publications and was mostly exhibited in North America and Europe, notably in Germany, Spain and England.

The majority of Krystel Marois’ portfolio focuses on capturing traces of human presence through various photographic formats such as still lives, interiors and landscapes. Guided by a soft, natural colour palette, her images seek to document the fleeting essence of everyday life. Sentiment, nostalgia and memories dominate her scope with emphasis on the shared intimacy of personal space and the notion of home. Her photographs form an attempt to connect the internal and external narratives, where still lives, inanimate objects or natural, geographical landscapes reflect emotional, private ones.

The beauty of solitude permeates throughout her images, in which a fluid discourse is engaged between absence and presence. The simplistic nature of the work brings into light a relentless attention to details and questions how material objects can stimulate memory and spirituality. Her photographs form a meticulous collection of the romantic, melancholic meanderings of a life without witnesses, resulting in evocative yet sober imagery. Mixing familiarity with the unknown, the diverse images aim to act as memory triggers, almost like déjà vu, offering a meditative and introspective space. Marois’ works often act as a deconstructive narrative of temporal human experience, allowing the viewer to draw their own conclusions of the depicted visual imagery. The ancillary circumstances of her photographs are so fleeting and momentary that their temporality is almost physically inscribed into the image through movement and imagery that extends past the frame.

This series, entitled Neverland, was produced over the time the photographer was based in Berlin (Germany). The interiors, objects and still lives photographed during this period were slowly and carefully collected while living in different homes in Berlin and traveling to various European cities. In her newly adopted environment, domesticity as well as details of mundane places became her main focus. Being away from most of her familiar references made her personal space paramount, a refuge she could truly appropriate. Hence, in a solitary exploration to appreciate beauty in the ordinary, she captured details of her everyday life abroad. [Official Website]