We usually think of photography as a tool to capture reality. We should start from the opposite assumption in Reine Paradis‘ shots, photographer, visual artist and adventurer. Reine’s works immortalize her imagination, in surreal self-portraits with fluorescent tones that transport us into her world.

Born in 1989, she raised in the uncontaminated nature of southern France. A move in 2012 brought her to Los Angeles, where the vanguard environment and the eccentric landscapes of the metropolis blend with her art. 

In each of her shot, the reality imagined – in detail – by Reine Paradis comes to life through the camera. Scenes are visualised and conceptualised, before becoming detailed sketches, in a game of perspective and depth that flattens our world to project us into his. It is an introspective and symbolic journey, on the border between reality and fantasy with vibrant and hyper-saturated colours.

To complete the picture, the props built by the artist, once paper creations, now plexiglass sculptures, have a deep narrative meaning.

The artist’s body moves in the irony and chromatic minimalism of the composition, blending and dialoguing with the surrounding environment as in the perfect frame of a film, Reine’s personal one.  

The search for the perfect place guides the photographer who does not flinch from extreme sets or dangerous poses: the priority is the story of the scene. A tale that starts from the artist’s mind and arrives to the spectator’s eye, captured by the alienating atmosphere and the simplicity of the language.