Valérie Chauffour, “RUNWAY”

Valérie Chauffour will present “RUNWAY” at the Spéos Gallery, 7 rue Jules Vallès, 75011 Paris, from January 18, 2022 to February 25, 2022.

Opening of the exhibition: January 18, from 6pm to 9pm

Capturing moments, take-off and landing cycles always bound back to earth, welcomed by a strip of tarmac.
I am seeking to grasp — by hindsight and via screens — the gestures repeated a thousand times.
As I am buckled down in my seat, an attentive passenger, I hear the familiar sounds of technical announcements resonate in my ears every time the aircraft throttles up, or the landing gear is lowered: a different perspective on reality.

A flight begins and ends on a runway, on all the runways in the world.
A fundamental and ever-present image in a pilot’s mind, the runway is a goal, a target, a constraint. Weather elements keep changing its conditions and demands: the runway hides from view, it shines, is slippery…
In the dichotomy of flying, the runway represents the earth opposed to the sky, but it is also a whole world unto itself, with its own set of rules, markings, lights and signals.
This exhibition was born out of a desire to revisit past impressions, reminisce on a past life.
A meditation on bygone days.

Valerie Chauffour is a French photographer based in Paris. Raised around planes, she destined herself to a career in aviation very early on. She first got a business school degree and then became an airline pilot after a stringent self-training program. Over the years, photography came to occupy a major place in her life. In 2015, she decided to fully devote herself to becoming a professional photographer. Her practice is oriented towards documentary, travel, fine art and architecture photography.

Exhibitions:
– Imagenation Paris – Paris Photo Off (Nov 2019)
– Dagao Art District, Chengde, China:  “URBAN ART” exhibition organized by UAAF (Sep. 2019 – Mar. 2020)
– Festival Voies Off, Rencontres d’Arles 2019:  “CHINATONES” solo exhibition
– Tokyo International Foto Awards. Group exhibition at Shibuya Cultural Center, Tokyo (Feb. 2019)
– Le Salon de la Photo Paris 2017
– Le Rendez-vous de l’Hêtre, Préfailles. Outdoor, group exhibition (2016 and 2017)
– Galerie du Colombier, Paris: abstract series “Station Berlin” (Feb. 2016)
– Salon La Quatrième image, Paris: abstract series “Eaux” (Oct. 2014)

Awards:
– Several nominations and honorable mentions at International Color Awards, Black and White Spider Awards, ND Awards, International Photographer of the Year, Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA), Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA).
– 3rd place winner International Photographer of the Year 2015
– 2nd winner and gold medal TIFA 2018

Commission: Carte Blanche for Paris Saint-Germain Football Club

Valérie is a Spéos 2015 graduate from the Professional Photography Fundamentals program.