Over a thousand years ago, Sidonius Apollinaris, a senator, bishop, and poet living near what is now Clermont-Ferrand became perhaps the first writer in history to describe Auvergne’s power to enchant the senses. In his eyes, everything about the land, from its hill-tops and vineyards, to its lowlands and castles, had a “unique charm”. Upon seeing all of these landscapes, Sidonius wrote, a stranger would easily “forget his own country”.
Despite these eloquent words — and those of countless other poets through the ages — it could be argued that Auvergne’s beauty remains widely underappreciated. Fortunately, a new generation of artists, such as Tristan Lohengrin and Noémie Feybesse, are changing that. With their latest photography exhibition, “L’orée des légendes”, the two have vouchsafed to all a kind of Narnian key, providing access to an enchanted world few thought existed.
In each photograph, a cloaked Noémie, sometimes carrying a sword, lantern, staff, or sickle, acts almost like a mystical cicerone. She beckons to viewers with silent but commanding gestures, inviting them to immerse themselves in Auvergne’s wildest and most wondrous landmarks. The exhibition’s visuals are also amplified by a whimsical soundtrack of ambient music. Composed by Tristan, who is also a multi-instrumentalist musician, the tunes show a clear influence of fantasy video game music.
Both magicians in their own right (for what is magic but the ability to stir and sway the soul?), Tristan and Noémie told me that they are primarily inspired by nature, fairy tales, medieval history, Celtic art, nineteenth-century Romanticism, and fantasy works like J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Although Tristan studied art in Paris and recently settled in Clermont-Ferrand, Noémie was raised in Haute-Loire and got her start in photography by experimenting with her father’s camera. She went on to become deeply active in medieval and Renaissance re-enactment communities, during which she acquired the collection of robes, dresses, and other props that would later appear in “L’orée des légendes”.
The exhibition is the direct result of Tristan and Noémie’s chance meeting a few years ago. Both saw Auvergne’s landscapes as a sort of living dream that had to be shared with the world. It’s the pair’s first collaboration, but it will surely not be their last.
L’orée des légendes is hosted inside the town hall of Murat-le-Quaire and runs until 10 August. Entrance is free. For more on Tristan and Noémie’s art, see the following links:
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