Photographer Antoine Schoenfeld achieves a striking visual uniformity by moving away from the familiar cities.

A work that highlights these imposing structures that appear unexpectedly in the middle of nowhere. 

“It was while traveling the roads between the Yvelines that this idea first came to mind.

I had noticed a huge water tower planted in the middle of the fields, in the middle of nowhere.

The horizon was clear, with no visual obstacles, which is rare in France where all the infrastructure is concentrated in urban areas.

An imposing sky, a structure in the center of the image, and a minimalist background.

I had found a simple, clean style that requires almost marginal conditions and an environment that can only be found on the departmental roads of the country.

But why create this series? Why was I drawn to this photographic style that I had conceived in my mind? Since my photography school, I stumbled upon architecture and landscape by chance, even though I wasn’t attracted to them at all initially.

In the midst of struggling to find a subject for my portfolio, I had a meeting with my jury to present some images.

I had no idea, no inspiration.

The day before, I went to a neighborhood not far from my home that I had known during my baccalaureate and that seemed decent for taking a few shots to submit something, but without believing in it.

The jury loved it and strongly advised me to continue in this direction.

I never left these photographic styles that are now part of me.

In all my work processes, I try to focus on the insignificant, the everyday, what we see every day… and what better way to enrich my photographic approach than with structures forgotten kilometers away from urban areas, alone, abandoned?

Putting the mundane at the center of the image, giving aesthetic importance to domains that were not created for that purpose.

Conveying a historical sense for future generations, documenting our history through their existence, delivering an artistic meaning to these roadside abandonments.”