Thomas Barbey

Thomas Barbey

Thomas Barbèy grew up in Geneva, Switzerland. He started drawing seriously at the age of 13, using black “encre de Chine” and gouaches for color. He had influences such as Philippe Druillet, Roger Dean and H.R. Giger. After 17 years he decided to move to Italy, where he lived in Milan for 15 years making a living as a successful recording artist, lyricist and fashion photographer. Thomas has been a photographer for over twenty years now and prefers to use his old Canon AE1s when he shoots in 35mm or his RB67 when he shoots in medium format. As of recently he has been creating Black and White Photomontages for the sole purpose of doing Fine Art, without working for a specific client.

He has combined multiple images taken over a long period of time to create surreal situations with the help of the enlarger in a dark room. His work has a specific style and is very characteristic. He only works with Black and White.

Every single one of his images has to pass the “So what?” test. If a combination of two or more negatives put together doesn't have any particular meaning, he starts over. "A giant clock in the middle of the ocean can be an unusual image, but if he looks at it and says to himself, “So what?”, this means it isn't good enough.” If, instead, an ocean liner is going down a “funnel-type” hole and he titles it “Shortcut to China”, it takes on a whole new meaning". 

Thomas travels 2-3 times a year to take photographs. Sometimes he uses an image several years later. Some images are composed of negatives that are separated by a decade in the actual time that he has taken them and only come to life when they found their "perfect match". It's the combination of two or more negatives that give birth to a completely unusual vision, but most of all, the title he gives the final image is the glue of the piece.

Thomas exhibits in galleries throughout the world and is included in many private collections.

http://thomasbarbey.com/thomas-barbey-gallery.cfm

post by Jackie