Dimensions: 31.6 x 31.6 cm
Pages: 55
Limited edition of 70
While analogue photography always sought to achieve the finest possible grain, especially with low-sensitivity films, René Groebli took a different approach: he used highly sensitive film, exposed it briefly and developed it for a long time to give his pictures the coarsest possible grain.
He experimented with this technique for many years in a wide variety of situations and with a wide range of subjects. And that is exactly what this book is about.
‘In my work, I discovered the creative potential of the different levels of grain,’ explains René Groebli in his introductory text. "That's how I came up with the idea of using this grain in a targeted way ... Regardless of the image content, grain can cast a delicate veil over or a mist into the scene. As a result, the chosen grain is an additional means of abstraction. By breaking sharpness and enhancing blur, it changes the mood of the image and the atmosphere of the scene. In some images, the grain creates an effect similar to the painting techniques of Impressionism."
René Groebli was not the only one to use grain as a stylistic device, but he was probably the most consistent in applying this technique over a long creative period. The book thus presents a collection of many well-known photographs from different creative periods in which he repeatedly experimented with coarse grain.
René Groebli mastered this technique like no other, and he knew exactly which images to use it on to reinforce their message. This is particularly evident in the landscapes (17), nudes and people (12), cityscapes (7), combinations (6) and railway images (2) featured in this book. Their graininess gives the images an enchanting, mystical quality, reminiscent of Impressionism in painting.
It is also worth mentioning that René Groebli designed all of his books of this kind himself in his later years and also scanned his originals himself, which is very demanding work given the extremely fine grain structure of the images.
Urs Tillmanns
Text in English and German.
Text by René Groebli.
©Photographs by René Groebli