The Revelation of Lines and Forms: Minimalism and Conceptualism in the Work of Jean-Paul Soujol Benedetti
- ARTISTIC HUB MAGAZINE
- Aug 20, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Oct 6
FRANCE
Jean-Paul Soujol Benedetti is an artist whose photography reflects a profound connection to aesthetics, pure form, and minimalist philosophy. Although he began his photographic journey later in life, his passion for nature, light, and contemporary painting has guided him toward creating works that captivate through their simplicity while revealing a sophisticated interplay of lines, colors, and forms. With meticulously balanced compositions and technical precision, Jean-Paul Soujol Benedetti explores the space between the real and the imaginary, the natural and the synthetic, offering a distinctive vision of the world through his lens.
Your photographic work is deeply influenced by contemporary painting. Could you tell us how your journey into the world of photography began, and what first sparked your fascination with minimalism?
I began photography later in life, at the age of fifty-one. It was the beauty of nature and its light that inspired me to take up the camera, so I started with landscape photography. I was drawn to soft light, the kind that appears just before sunrise or after sunset – the evening glow. I felt a deep urge to capture landscapes differently, using light and composition to highlight unique details that invite the viewer to see familiar places in a new and thought-provoking way.
During local exhibitions, I received a lot of positive feedback from people who were both surprised and fascinated by what they saw. They discovered another kind of landscape through my photographs. That was incredibly motivating and encouraging for me.
This period lasted a few years, during which I explored night photography – the Milky Way, star trails – and experimented with infrared. Eventually, I felt the need to move forward. The turning point came when I discovered the square format, which completely changed the way I approached photography. I immediately realized that this format would lead me toward a new visual language. My passion for pure forms, aesthetics, and simplicity in contemporary art made minimalism a natural path to follow. I truly enjoyed this phase, as it pushed me to become more creative.
I had to rethink the way I photographed and composed each image. I had to think in squares, not just crop images into a square shape. I had finally found the format that suited me and my evolving style, but I still needed a technique that would harmonize with this new direction. That’s when I chose long exposure. It was another revelation, especially with the discovery of ND (Neutral Density) filters. Since then, this combination has become an essential part of my work, often paired with techniques like ICM (Intentional Camera Movement).
For me, minimalism is a creative challenge. It drives me to focus on the essential. It’s thrilling to extract the quintessence of just a few elements from a broader scene. It may seem simple at first glance, but in reality, it’s far from easy – and that’s precisely what keeps me inspired and motivated.
Espace Inaugural Contemporary
Your work often features the color blue and the horizon as central elements. How have artists such as Pierre Soulages, Mark Rothko, and Yves Klein influenced your artistic vision?
Blue has always been my favorite color. Blue is life. It influences our inner joy and brings a sense of pleasure and happiness. When we look at a gray sky and then at a blue one, we do not feel the same.
The horizon is a pure and infinite line that separates two elements. I chose the sea and its horizon as guiding themes for my minimalist projects, always in pursuit of purity and aesthetics.
Discovering the three great artists you mentioned allowed me to deepen my artistic research and my exploration of color. Yves Klein’s monochromes and his International Klein Blue inspired several of the monochrome works in my Espace Inaugural portfolio. I was also drawn to Mark Rothko’s abstract compositions, such as Rust and Blue, Blue Divided by Blue, and Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose, which are also reflected in Espace Inaugural.
Despite these influences, Espace Inaugural remains a deeply personal body of work. I discovered Pierre Soulages and his Outrenoir at the Fabre Museum in Montpellier, and they moved me profoundly. That experience awakened a desire to work with black in photography, not merely as a tone but as a color, to combine it with blue. This dialogue between black and blue can be seen in the portfolios Contemporary and Le Bleu dans le Noir, as well as in photographs such as Black Matter and Between Real and Unreal.
I find it challenging to capture the very essence of black in photography. It demands great precision in exposure and a subtle play of light that sculpts the texture of black. For me, it remains a constant challenge because it is easy to lose its material quality. The interplay of black and blue is a profound source of inspiration, allowing me to explore abstraction and create contemporary works that reflect both emotion and depth.
The URSULA series represents an innovative concept that places a store mannequin in diverse situations. What inspired this series, and what is the conceptual intention behind it?
For some time, I tried to incorporate plastic elements into my minimalist landscape photography. I wanted to introduce something synthetic into the natural. I have always been drawn to abstraction for its timeless quality, yet it was not enough to satisfy my creativity. I needed something that would complement it, something that would add a new element, an enigma. That is how I turned toward the conceptual. It allows me to extend my creativity into another dimension, one rooted in enigmatic imagination.
“When the idea becomes an image” has now become my guiding concept. It is about intellectualizing the idea in order to transform it into creation. At first, I searched for blue plastic pebbles that I wanted to place on a black sand beach. When I could not find what I had in mind, I came up with the idea of using chicken feet. The series is called Chicken Paradise.
The intention was to explore two opposing themes: elegance on one side, and vulgarity expressed through vivid, flashy colors on the other. After that series, created between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, the chicken feet evolved into a plastic shop mannequin. The idea was to place it in different environments. By the end of 2023, the URSULA 1 project was born.
In this project, I focused exclusively on the legs of the mannequin named Ursula. Why just the legs? In my view, this part of the body stimulates the viewer’s imagination and provokes questions. I deliberately avoided using the full body to prevent any resemblance to a corpse. Instead, I played with individual parts of the mannequin to make the work more enigmatic.
The challenge lies in positioning this enigma precisely within the composition to create images that are surprising, innovative, and aesthetically refined. The viewer’s gaze is also essential. Each person must interpret these images for themselves and allow space for their own imagination.
To conclude, I will quote Pierre Soulages:
"The work lives through the way we look at it. It is not defined solely by what it is, nor by the person who created it. It also belongs to the one who contemplates it." (translated from French).
The photographic series "Ursula" by Jean-Paul Soujol Benedetti
Your art explores the purity of lines and forms. How do you define minimalism within your work, and what does this approach allow you to express that other techniques do not?
Aesthetics has always been at the heart of my work, especially when it comes to minimalism. The combination of both creates a continuous search for purity in lines and forms. For me, the horizon is the most sensitive element. It must be pure and sharply defined, like a thread stretched through space. It is the key element of my work, as it marks the boundary between the foreground and the sky.
Its clarity evokes a sense of infinity, but also the idea of separation between two worlds. This boundary can be soft and blurred, as in Espace Inaugural, Contemporary, and Fine Art, or sharply defined, as in Mer en Scènes, Carré Bleu, and Horizon. I like to be precise and disciplined in my lines and shapes, as in San Cataldo.
This minimalist and aesthetic approach represents an accomplishment, a synthesis of my vision of the world. Digital photography provides the precision I need to bring my creations to life.
Your photographs are known for their exceptional technical quality and precision. Could you tell us more about the techniques you use and how you prepare for each creation?
On location, once I have carefully chosen my subject, I always set my camera on a tripod. It serves as a painter’s easel, the foundation of my creative process. The tripod is my most essential tool. It allows me to capture long exposures, whether soft or sharp, and to align the horizon with absolute precision.
Once the camera is positioned, I place my graduated and neutral filters according to the light and the exposure time I want to achieve. When the photograph is taken, it is still only a sketch. I always shoot in RAW format and work entirely in manual mode. It is in my studio that the photographs take on their true identity. The sketch created in the field becomes a finished creation.
Post-processing on the computer is a long and meticulous stage that can take several days or even weeks, depending on the complexity of what I seek to achieve. The initial image passes through a workflow involving three software programs. Each contributes its own processes, and together they complement one another to produce the final image, which is then saved in TIFF format for fine art printing and in JPEG format for digital or web use.
Your recent works have grown more abstract and incorporate innovative, conceptual approaches. How do you see the evolution of your style, and what inspires you to pursue this new direction?
At the moment, I work along two main lines: minimalist photography and conceptual photography. The minimalist part of my work is divided into two themes. One is long exposure, which I use primarily for my seascapes, and the other is abstract photography, which is closer in spirit to contemporary painting. It is this second theme that will continue to evolve. Its possibilities are vast and limitless.
The evolution of my work will be guided by creative curiosity, ongoing research, and future inspiration. My exploration of black and blue is developing quickly, and I feel it holds immense potential for what lies ahead. The conceptual dimension of my work is also rich in possibilities and will continue to expand through new projects and styles.
What can we expect from your upcoming projects? Are there any new series or concepts you are currently developing that you would like to share with our readers?
My upcoming projects will increasingly be created in a panoramic format with a 2:1 ratio. This approach can already be seen in Contemporary, Espace Inaugural, and Le Bleu dans le Noir. The format opens a new dimension of space for me, amplifying the sense of infinity even further.
The URSULA project will naturally evolve into URSULA 2. In this new series, I will work with the bust and arms of the mannequin, continuing the exploration that began with the legs. I also have two projects planned for 2026 in Sicily. One will focus on black and blue as a continuation of Contemporary, while the other will be more conceptual and will take place within the meandering landscape of Il Cretto di Burri.
Another project in development is a monograph to be written by Beatrice Cordaro, art historian and curator. I am also preparing to participate in the XV Biennale of Art and Design in Florence, which will take place in October 2025.
"Acidulated"
Jean-Paul Soujol Benedetti is an artist who masterfully unites minimalist aesthetics with conceptual expression, creating photographs that invite viewers to rethink the boundaries between art and reality. His devotion to pure form and his ever-evolving style make him one of the most captivating artists of our time.
Photos by Jean-Paul Soujol Benedetti
