Reykjavík Museum of Photography

In 2001 he produced "A Taxi for Reykjavik", which was neither a real feature report nor total fiction, just somewhere between portrait and sketch, showing what is real but without actually unveiling it. He is a photographer who puts distance between himself and reality. He firstly takes his time to contemplate so as to better penetrate inside the fascinating world of hot springs, a décor that is at once extraordinary and trivial, where the visible and the invisible end up together as one. The communion with natural elements is here akin to a state of grace. Freed of gravity, bodies remain discreetly unobtrusive and disappear into evanescent silhouettes that are unfathomable to any camera lens… That leaves staring eyes, faces lined with enigmatic smiles, ecstatically… with a persistent feeling of strangeness. Chemistry is at work here. The same chemistry that is to be found in the blurred rendering of Polaroid pictures, accentuating the deformations caused by water vapour. 


The use of SX70 film neutralizes colours and echoes the aquatic blue. Damien Peyret loves this random factor inherent with a Polaroid camera. Better, the accident and imperfection of colours persistently renew the thrill of discovery, the excitement as the image appears and materializes. 

He does not reveal everything in his photographs. He simply touches on things. And so much the better, because he looks at them with not only his eyes but also his own sensitivity, inviting each onlooker to his or her own meditation. 

Sophie Bernard.


Damien Peyret│Swim and Steam

Damien Peyret has been seriously involved with photography for about ten years and uses his work in his video documentaries.

Damien Peyr­et│Swim and Steam

Damien Peyret has been seriously involved with photography for about ten years and uses his work in his video documentaries.

Damien Peyret│Swim and Steam