“Ego (Weedon Woods Walk)”

Nominated by: Vassiliki Tzanakou

This beautiful gelatin silver print entitled “Ego (Weedon Woods Walk)” by artist Stéphane Graff (1965) was shot with analogue equipment at Weedon Woods, South Buckinghamshire. I nominate this photograph because it effectively addresses, in a single image, matters of great significance for our county: the importance of preserving our natural environment against aggressive developmentalism, the role of culture and sciences in our societies, and the benefits of interdisciplinarity and cross-sectoral collaboration.

The image features the pseudo-scientist ‘Professore,’ Graff’s enigmatic alter-ego. Created in 2008, Professore is a ‘larger-than-life’ character, reminiscent of the Surrealists and Dadaists who sought to challenge the constraints of the rational mind. Professore regularly explores themes of identity, concealment, and our relationship with natural and social environments through a series of strange experiments, conducted both in his laboratory and in nature, that fluctuate between success and failure. This character embodies an auto-collaboration deeply influenced by artistic practices, scientific methods, and disciplines such as anthropology, environmental science, and the psychoanalytical traditions of Freud and Jung.

“Ego (Weedon Woods Walk)” is part of a larger body of photographs and a short film that Graff shot primarily in the forests of his native South Buckinghamshire, areas renowned for their outstanding beauty. The photograph is both shot and printed using analogue methods. This aesthetic choice characterizes the entire Professore series and reflects Graff’s passion for analogue photography and his deep appreciation for early photographic techniques. It also conveys a nostalgia for the past, when life was simpler and humans were closer to nature. Empowered by the forces of nature and scientific knowledge, Professore continues his quest to break the ciphers and find the ways to save the forests from ecocide.

“Ego (Weedon Woods Walk)” was nominated by Vassiliki Tzanakou, Phd Candidate in the Theory and History of Art, Athens School of Fine Arts