Christian Bruer, 2017
Towards the end of summer, the French Atlantic coast unfolds a particular charm. The heat of the high season slowly fades, just as the steady flow of tourists begins to ebb away. During the day, the sun still casts its pleasantly warming light—enveloping the landscape, the coastline, and even the insignia of civilization in a soft, golden glow.
In the photographs of the series French Summer, created in late summer 2017 along the French Atlantic coast, human presence is sparse—sometimes locals, sometimes visitors. There are lifeguards gazing out to sea (Life Saver II), surfers awaiting the last wave of the season (Last Surfers), or skateboarders moving through the low evening light (Skateboarder I, Skateboarder III).
Beyond the serene portrayal of nature—so calm and gentle in contrast to the region’s characteristically turbulent sea—the images also reveal the emblems of civilization, with all their unsettling faces. One encounters deserted concrete fortresses, shopping centers, and nightclubs that appear both strangely out of place and yet softened, almost reconciled, in the mellow late-summer light (Avenue-du-Lieutenant-Durand, Glass, Stone Wave I).
Empty streets, their asphalt still warmed by the last rays of the year, exude a sense of solitude and transience—yet also of quiet reconciliation with the world itself (Street I, Street III).
Through its wide range of color, brightness, and contrast, French Summer—Christian Bruer’s third photographic series—plays with the polarities of warmth and coolness, emergence and decay, intimacy and solitude.
All images and texts © Christian Bruer. Use, modification (including by AI), or reproduction of any kind (digital, print, etc.) is strictly prohibited without written permission.
