Hélène Binet

The Walls of Suzhou Gardens

A Photographic Journey

At the Classical Gardens of Suzhou in China, surface transforms into space; walls become landscapes. In her journey through this UNESCO World Heritage Site, Swiss French photographer Hélène Binet captures the traces of environmental influences on built structures. Her impressive series of photography shows how weather and time have turned blank walls into vivid depictions of nature. In Binet’s images, architecture becomes the frame for imaginary landscapes. By interweaving foreground and background, the artist tells stories that shift between the two dimensions of the plane and the three dimensions of space.

In an accompanying essay, architect and writer Juhani Pallasmaa captures the dream-like quality of the photographs and emphasizes Binet’s skill of balancing precision and vagueness to create images that stimulate the viewer’s imagination.

At the Classical Gardens of Suzhou in China, surface transforms into space; walls become landscapes. In her journey through this UNESCO World Heritage Site, Swiss French photographer Hélène Binet captures the traces of environmental influences on built structures. Her impressive series of photography shows how weather and time have turned blank walls into vivid depictions of nature. In Binet’s images, architecture becomes the frame for imaginary landscapes. By interweaving foreground and background, the artist tells stories that shift between the two dimensions of the plane and the three dimensions of space.

In an accompanying essay, architect and writer Juhani Pallasmaa captures the dream-like quality of the photographs and emphasizes Binet’s skill of balancing precision and vagueness to create images that stimulate the viewer’s imagination.

With photographs by Hélène Binet

With an essay by Juhani Pallasmaa

Design: Integral Lars Müller

20 × 25 cm, 8 × 10 in

64 pages, 31 illustrations

hardback

2021, 978-3-03778-660-4, English
CHF 40.00
Out of stock

Hélène Binet

Hélène Binet (*1959) was born in Sorengo, Switzerland, and is of both Swiss and French descent. She grew up in Rome where she studied photography at the Instituto Europeo di Design and soon developed an interest in architectural photography. Hélène Binet has photographed both contemporary and historical architecture, including the work of architects Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, and Peter Zumthor. More recently, she has started to direct her attention to landscape photography, wherein she transposes key concerns of her architectural photography. Hélène Binet’s work has been published in a wide range of books, and is shown in both national and international exhibitions. An advocate of analogue photography, Hélène Binet works exclusively with film.