Some look like Autocad renders. Others, as tapping the limits of the unreal. First released in 2009, “Surface” is a series of photographs captured by Swiss photographer Matthew Gafsou that focus on the unique architecture and landscape of Tunisia.
With clean, saturated lines, his pictures of Tunisia are a strong statement that can be translated in multiple ways, but evoke one same feeling: perplexity. “The places he encountered in Tunisia varied in strange ways. He felt that the land was divided by tradition and aspiration and that the structures failed to create any coherence. He photographed the buildings that merely create a surface or make-believe,” explains Pieter Wisse in his blog.
While the places he shoots seem disconnected from one another, his iconic style confers them with meaning. Represented as a far, unreal experience to the eye, his shots of high-end houses and hotels reflect his vision of the modern city: a created reality which can be seen only on the surface. “These new cities are in fact a mere reflection of a modernity the country has not really found out for itself.”
For more information: Visit Matthew Gafsou‘s website.