After a career spanning more than 25 years in the textile industry, Didier Engels turned to artistic photography. His passion for the port and everything that surrounds it has led him to express this world photographically, while retaining his ‘material’ eye inherited from his textile past. After a first successful exhibition, Didier devoted his time to travelling around the docks of Europe to capture his own visuals. His work has been presented with great success at art fairs and galleries in Europe and the United States.
One of the main lines of his work on docks and containers is to divert visuals that are already graphic and colourful to give them a more artistic dimension by removing all peripheral elements other than the subject itself. The arrangement and colours of the containers are sometimes those of the original shot, sometimes a composition of personal assembly. Trimming, or the particular framing of the containers in post-production, highlights the existing graphics and places the subject as the main element.
It’s a principle that’s regularly found in his work, where he starts with a concrete visual and pulls it towards a more abstract one. The idea is to create confusion and challenge the viewer, who at first glance will probably not perceive the original source of the photo. The eye will first be attracted by the colours, the alignments and the graphic side of the visual, only then will it perceive the triggering element that is the container.
It was only natural that he should concentrate on photocomposition, which is now at the heart of his work. He mixes his raw containers with containers decorated with graffiti. He creates an artistic and creative interplay between street art and industrial objects in a balance that is all his own.
This personal vision highlights the strong elements of the subjects, giving them an unexpected artistic edge with a strong identity. This graphic capture is a real addiction for Didier, who has other areas waiting to be developed in the future, although the port subject is far from exhausted.
His work continues at exhibitions, where he discusses the subject with visitors and explains the before and after of the photo.
