“Taking photographs means keeping the mind, the eye, and the heart simultaneously in focus,” said Henri Cartier-Bresson. This same symbiosis is present in Henrike Stahl’s work, although the artist’s visual experiments are a far cry from traditional photography, including chromatic saturation, the use of colorful smoke, and whole host of poetic interventions that manage to always avoid the pitfalls of artifice and illusion. Meanwhile, her models remain entirely whole, as it is within their imperfections that the full wealth of enigmatic, intense grace is revealed.

During her residency at Château Palmer, meeting with young seasonal workers from the Grand Parc neighborhood of Bordeaux, this beauty was able to resonate with the climatic uncertainties to offer a tribute to resilience. The fruits of this encounter will be exhibited all summer long on the buildings and street furniture of the district, in an original open-air scenography.

CHÂTEAU PALMER : What is the starting point for your work as a photographer?

HENRIKE STAHL : Human encounters catch my eye more than places. I am not a landscape photographer, but I do like to observe. With this in mind, the three-week residency at Château Palmer was something of a godsend. I made sure that my time there was a sanctuary, so that I didn’t have any other professional or private imperatives to disturb me. I stepped completely out of my daily routine. Being there without knowing anyone, walking around freely, observing, was just incredible.

“I met those young people, who were standing about like wildflowers”
Henrike Stahl

Château Palmer : At the start, your residency was not at all focused on the seasonal workers from the Grand Parc neighborhood…

Henrike Stahl : That’s right. It was initially focused on the permanent staff at Château Palmer. I spent some time following them, and soon enough I met the young people from the Grand Parc neighborhood who were all sort of standing about like wildflowers. As I also come from this type of suburb, and I work a lot with people from similar backgrounds, I was immediately drawn to them. I found the integration program run with the Académie Younus absolutely brilliant.

Château Palmer : What was your approach?

Henrike Stahl : It all happened very naturally. I explained that I was working on a photo project. Those who were interested could participate, and those who didn’t want to didn’t have to. I also brought colorful T-shirts to put them at ease. I promised them that they would be able to see all my images, and that if any of them didn’t want one or all of them published, then they wouldn’t be. It was a collaborative process. I gave them very little guidance, and didn’t interfere too much with their comings and goings. I like to capture things spontaneously.

Château Palmer : And what was there relationship to the images?
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Henrike Stahl : Like many young people of their generation, their approach is heavily influenced by Instagram. For them, taking a photo is something immediate. It’s not a job developed over time, over several months. It was also important for me to give them another perspective, to encourage them to take a closer look at their shots. Each image carries a certain value, with a part of themselves inside. They can’t simply be used and sold off, like the billions of images shared and posted every day.

Château Palmer : What connection do they have with nature?

Henrike Stahl : You have to be in contact with nature to want to preserve it. If you live in an apartment block and have less contact with nature, you’re bound to pay less attention to it. It all comes down to circularity: you give and you take, you can’t just “use” nature. That’s what they are taught at Château Palmer. I see these young people a bit like “buds.” If we nurture them, in the right conditions, they’ll grow into something different. Their future is not set in stone. We can help them to change course.

Château Palmer : Do you view the photographs of these young people as portraits?

Henrike Stahl : Not necessarily, although I did photograph some of them at the foot of their building, to show something of where they are from. The work is more a portrait of the collaboration between these young people and the vineyard, a portrait of the time they spent there. Incidentally, this residency is called “INSTANTS.”

Château Palmer : Nature has a significant influence on this project. Could you tell us more?

Henrike Stahl : Water and the existential threat it poses played a big part in my residency. I floated some prints, and left others to rot in the damp. I buried some to expose them to the elements, insects, and so on. The idea was to put them to the test. Today, humankind fears nature and all these disasters that have been happening since the dawn of time. We’ve become too accustomed to managing our environment by pushing a button, using machines, and delegating tasks that, ironically, make us more vulnerable. It’s also a way of realizing that we have little control over the world – or the future. Sometimes, a certain beauty emerges from these accidents. Understanding and accepting these flaws makes us all equal. They are also a source of new ideas. That’s what I want to pass on to young people, and to my children, too: the ability to welcome imperfections, respect them, and recognize the good in them.

“It was important to me that this exhibition take place without barriers”
Henrike Stahl

Château Palmer : The images from this residency will be exhibited in the Grand Parc neighborhood in Bordeaux this summer. Was this an obvious choice?

Henrike Stahl : When I was asked where I would ideally like to display these images, I couldn’t imagine them solely in a museum, a château, or an art gallery. Instead, I wanted to bring all this nature right to their doorstep. It was important to me that this exhibition take place without barriers, in an open, inclusive venue that wasn’t intimidating for them. At the same time, it had to be set up delicately to avoid “parading” these young people but instead shining a light on them.

Château Palmer : How did this idea eventually become a reality?

Henrike Stahl : We took steps with the city of Bordeaux to check the feasibility of the project and resolve any technical constraints, as I don’t believe an exhibition of this kind had ever been attempted before. It was also essential to respect the young people’s wishes regarding the use of their images. This project is also theirs. They are the ones who have taken the biggest risk by showing themselves in front of the whole neighborhood; it requires a certain amount of courage, and I didn’t want to impose anything on them. It was very important for them to be fully involved at every stage of the project. All the young people were invited to take part in a scenography session, during which we chose the images to be displayed on the huge tarpaulins. I didn’t think that they would want their own portraits on display, but they actually did!

Château Palmer : What interest do they have in art?

Henrike Stahl : One of the young people told me that he was thinking of becoming a photographer. I told him that he could bring along his camera this summer and that I would give him some advice. I don’t know what their level of interest in art is in general, or whether they regularly go to exhibitions. That’s why I opted for this outdoor format, which makes the images immediately accessible and removes the constraints of visiting a gallery or a museum. In places like this, exhibiting images that aren’t easily visible from afar wouldn’t have had much impact. The idea was to make it possible to take in all the photos with a single glance, like a vast landscape. In all, there are about 50 of them, including some 20 portraits. There are three very large ones on tarpaulins, others on flags hanging from lampposts, and a set of prints presented on an unusual building from the late 2000s, the “Résidence Arc-en-Ciel.”

Château Palmer : Your residency also led to the publication of the enigmatically titled book L’arc sera parmi les nuages…

Henrike Stahl : In the myth of Noah, after the flood, God makes a rainbow appear in the sky as a sign of his pact with humanity, a symbol of peace, hope, and renewal. When I looked at these photographs, I had no intention of turning them into a biblical allegory, but there were aspects that resonated with this story: the threat of being flooded, the idea of saving species in pairs (just as I often work in diptychs), and the idea of preserving certain beautiful things for the future. It is a more contemporary interpretation of Noah’s Ark, devoid of any religious connotations.