JEAN DE POMEREU
Born in Paris in 1969, Jean de Pomereu is a photographic artist, editor, and research associate at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. A large part of his work focuses on the visual and scientific culture of Antarctica, a territory he has visited on numerous occasions.
His current photographic work involves the reinterpretation of aerial photographs ofAntarctica taken for cartographic purposes during the Cold War. Through incisions, overlays, and other physical interventions, he constructs new topographies that echo the transformation of icy environments by human activity. These works extend a body ofresearch developed in previous series such as Topography of Absence, Contours of Silence, and Sans Nom, which explored the mineral abstraction of polar landscapes.
In 2006, he was the official photographer for Stellar Axis: Antarctica, a large-scale land art installation by Lita Albuquerque, one of the most ambitious artistic projects ever undertaken on the continent.
Alongside his artistic practice, Jean de Pomereu is involved in the preservation and contextualisation of early polar photography. As co-editor with Salto Ulbeek in Belgium, he has contributed to the publication of platinum-palladium prints made from original negatives by early Antarctic photographers, including Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley, photographer on Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance expedition. This project now extends to the earliest photographs of Everest, drawn from the archives of the Royal Geographical Society in London.
Jean de Pomereu is also engaged in long-term research into the cultural and scientific history of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. He is currently working on a book on the subject, as well as an exhibition project dedicated to the visual history of Antarctic photography. In 2022, he co-authored Antarctica: A History in 100 Objects (Conway/Bloomsbury).
SELECTED ARTWORKS
Interview at the Collège international de Photographie • Jean de Pomereu (VF)
Recording of the conversation held on December 5, 2024 in the auditorium of the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine, between Jean de Pomereu, photographer and researcher, Michel Poivert, art and photography historian at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and the President of the Collège international de Photographie.
PUBLICATIONS
SOLO SHOWS
2021 “Echos”, Bigaignon, Paris, France
2013 Abbey aux Dames, Caen, France
2012 A. Gallery, Paris, France
2010 OFOTO Gallery, Shanghai, PRC
2009 Gallery du Globe, Chamonix, France
2008 Artheme Gallery, Paris, France
2008 Gallery Caroline Stoop, Brussels, Belgium
2006 Cultural Center of Uccle, Brussels, Belgium
GROUP SHOWS
2024 Art Brussels, Bigaignon, Brussels, Belgium
2018 David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence, United Stated of America
2018 “Vanishing Ice: Alpine and Polar Landscapes in Art, 1775-2012”, Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, United Stated of America
2016 “Vanishing Ice: Alpine and Polar Landscapes in Art, 1775-2012”, Brower Center, Berkeley, United Stated of America
2015 Lens Culture Exposure Awards 2014, PhotoLondon, England
2015 “Vanishing Ice: Alpine and Polar Landscapes in Art, 1775-2012”, McMichael Canadian Art Collection and Gallery, Ontario, Canada
2014 “Stellar Axis : Antarctica’, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, United Stated of America
2013 “Vanishing Ice: Alpine and Polar Landscapes in Art, 1775-2012 “, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, Washington, United Stated of America
2013 Galerie Rivière et Faivelay, Paris, France
2011 “The Altered Landscape”, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, United Stated of America
2011 “The Great White South”, Young Gallery, Knokke, Belgium
2006 “Sur la Terre Comme au Ciel”, Galerie Marceau Bastille, Paris, France
2005 “In From the Cold”, Christchurch Art Gallery, New-Zeland
2005 The Special Photographers Company, London, England
DISTINCTIONS
2022-2025 European Commission H2020 Marie Curie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF) for research project ICEglobe, "The Globalisation of Ice Sheets: a Scientific and Political History"
2021 European Commission H2020 Marie Curie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship at the University of Cambridge, England
2019 Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program Research Award(BPCRCAP). Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, Columbus, United Stated of America
2014 Finaliste, Exposure Awards
2005-2009 Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA), UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, University of Exeter and Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London, England