The coolness

On the bottom of her kimono

In the bamboo grove

Florence Notté is a French ‘colorist’ photographer, living in Singapore.

Following many exhibitions in Paris and Singapore, Notté, was recently recognized with an award for creativity by the French Federation of Photography. Notté has published two books to date: Singapore Day after Day which sold 3000 copies in 3 months for charity, and Urban Reflects.

Notté’s latest artistic project is a beautiful, square, coffee table book titled ‘Minimalism’. The book is a collection of Notte’s photography inspired by traditional Japanese poetry, known as haiku . Haiku hails from the tenth century and uses simple language to project concise imagery. A haiku poem is usually three lines long and focuses on the interaction of humans with nature -

Old pond . . .

A frog leaps in

Water’s sound

The attention is centred on one or two details in order to reveal the true essence of the whole. The photographer and the haiku poet share common ground as they are aware of passing time in order to capture it with raw, honest reality. The poems capture a moment as concisely and as simply as possible, just as Notté aims to do with her photographs. The brevity in the style of writing registers perfectly with our frantic pace of life. An event spoken in one breath is how some describe a haiku. A photograph may be similarly described. They also reflect not what has been said, but what has been suggested.

The book will be hard-backed and 86 pages (28 x 28cm).  This latest project will be a great opportunity to follow Notté in this adventure and a real chance to support art and communicate to a large audience at the same time.

The budget is SGD20,410 for the book project.  If you would like to become an individual patron or your company is interested in sponsoring the project, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Mesh Minds for further information. All sponsors and donors will be recognized in the book and will be invited to attend the book launch and signing.

Give Art are pleased to be sponsoring Florence Notté’s latest book of photographs, Urban Reflects. The gallery welcomed the French Ambassador to a launch party and accompanying exhibition on Tuesday, 9 February at 65 Spottiswoode Park Road.  Stay tuned for updates on ‘Minimalism’.