Jeffrey Blondes

In 2018, Blondes embarked on a project to film the Loire River over a year, using a vantage point that allowed for two distinctly different views. Once each month he installed two cameras and filmed with each for two hours. Over the first six months, he captured sunrise and the following six months the sunset. The films were exhibited at the Domain de Chaumont-sur-Loire in France during the winter of 2019-2020, and for the first time, rather than present his usual long-form video (which run between 12 and 72 hours), he experimented with 12-minute works so the visiting public would have the opportunity to ‘consume’ the entirety of the year. Also, for the first time, Blondes exhibited films in an elongated 16:4.5 format. To create them, Blondes recorded full-frame (16:9) horizontal sequences, cropping off the top and bottom to achieve a visually stretched image, projected 8 meters wide. The films were consequently exhibited in his galleries in their 24 hour long-form version.

Blondes returned to the raw footage to create this 12 minute interpretation. By restoring the ’top’ and ‘bottom’ of the original full frame, he produced an image that can be viewed on a standard 16x9 screen or projection. During a time when people are confined to their homes, he felt he could offer a 12 minute glimpse of the majestic beauty of France’s Loire Valley.