Unphotographing
the world
Bastien Pons explores texture, silence, and fractured perception through black and white photography.
Born April 12, 1968
in Versailles, France
Lives and works
in Lyon, France
Studies: Electro-acoustic Composition (National School of Music in Lyon)
Bastien Pons – black and white photographer based in Lyon, France
Bastien Pons is a visual artist and photographer based in Lyon, France. Working primarily in black and white photography, he explores the raw textures of reality through a distinctive, introspective lens. His images combine minimalism, abstraction, and contrast, often revealing what lies beneath the surface of familiar scenes.
Trained in electroacoustic composition, Bastien approaches photography with a composer’s mindset—crafting images like soundscapes, where silence, friction, and absence become visual elements. Influenced by musique concrète, he treats each photograph as a layered composition, using light, grain, blur, and shadow to evoke emotion and ambiguity.
His work focuses on texture, slowness, and perceptual fragmentation, offering a unique take on urban landscapes, anonymous spaces, and in-between moments. Whether through subtle distortions or stark contrasts, his photography invites the viewer to slow down, observe differently, and question what they see.
Featured in exhibitions and art publications in France, Japan, and Belgium, Bastien Pons’ work resonates with those drawn to fine art photography, experimental visual art, and a more tactile, contemplative experience of the image.
On this site, you’ll find two main sections:
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Inploration – a graphic, abstract approach focused on texture and visual experimentation.
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Exploration – a more documentary style, centered around travel photography and the observation of place.
Bastien Pons creates poetic, ambiguous images for those seeking depth in a world of instant visuals.
SHOWS AND PUBLICATIONS 1999: Sound composition at the Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art for the “Musiques en Scène” Festival 2000: Photo exhibit “Urban landscapes” in Grenoble, France 2004: Photo exhibit “New Emperors” in Osaka, Japan, Flaunders Center Gallery Photo exhibit and sound composition at the Maison d’Art Gallery in Osaka AADN group photo exhibit at the RVI “Artists’ Factory” in Lyon 2005: Photo report on Japan published in “Pictorial Post” magazine, issue no. 5 Photo exhibit inTokyo,“Horizontal landscapes” Series of 10 photos published in “HEAD” magazine 2006: Photo exhibit at the Original & Co. Gallery in Paris Photo exhibit and sound composition at the Maison d’Art Gallery in Paris Official selection of the “The Mois de la Photo-OFF” in Paris 2007: Photo exhibit “Lyon” at the L’Oeil Ecoute Gallery in Lyon Photo exhibit “New York” at the De Caritat Gallery in Brussels 2008: Series of photos published by the Chinese cultural center in Paris 2009: Series of 10 photos published in “Bunker”, Editions du Grenier Photo exhibit “Black-Out” in Saint Laurent de Mure, France 2017: Sound composition for videos and an art exhibition by David Roncada
inploration
exploration
"Inploration: a design involving the use of images, words and materials, through operations such as juxtaposition, modification, etc., impacted by memory and sense experiences that interplay with the purpose of creating a new synthesis." (M P Ranjan)
"exploration is the act of searching or traveling a terrain for the purpose of discovery, e.g. of unknown people and places". Wikipedia
