Jean-Luc Mylayne is a french photographer who lives between the south of France and the United States. Where? only very few know. It is almost impossible to reach him, no phone, no known address. With his wife, Mylène Mylayne, they live their life far away from our contemporaries habits. This quiet life is also related to a beautiful work.  In 1978 he untitled his first photograph n°1, July 1978. At night, in the countryside, a flying bird appears in the middle of the picture. This photograph is the first of a great series that is not yet completed. He kept the same structure for all of his title. the number and the date.

n°1, July 1978

From that time, Mylayne start a work around birds and time. This obsessive subject became a powerful and fabulous work. Spending weeks waiting for the perfect moment. Everything is organized in advance in his mind. Birds become actors and they play in front of Mylayne’s camera. He can wait for hours, weeks and months to catch them. That explains why sometimes the date become a duration in the title. His camera has multiple lenses that stack together create partial optical distortions, such that select areas of his life size photograph appear blurred while all else is in sharpest focus. It seems like it was painted. Interesting when we learn that he calls his pictures “tableaux” (paintings).

Here are some of his paintings:

n° 306, Mars Avril 2005

n° 523, February March April

n° 266, February March 2006

n° 340, Avril May 2005

if you want to see and know more about his work, he is represented by Spruth Magers and Gladstone gallery.

Happy new year !