The entrance hall of the Maison des Provinces is decorated this month with around twenty photographs of these so-called “bad” plants. They are the work of the Vendôme photographer Daniel Martellière who, after 40 years of utilitarian hunting, decided, upon retirement, to pay tribute to them: “In July 2021, at the end of a sunny day, I had a revelation and decided to help them acquire the right to share our sidewalks and roadsides.”
It doesn’t matter whether you identify them or not.
For the artist, it matters little whether or not to identify these plants, strong in their rights, which sometimes nourish us. To the rigor of the botanist, he opposes, one not precluding the other, the poetry of the artist. The boxes placed between the photos compose in their own way an ode to those he calls “The flowers of the wind”.
As President Catherine Ducouran rightly reminded us: “For many years, the city of Blois has opted for zero pesticides. So, we have become accustomed to seeing these herbs and flowers growing freely in our environment. But it took the eye of Daniel Martellière to capture its beauty, robustness and fragility at the same time. Through a lot of photographic adjustment work, he admits tending towards watercolor: “I actually paint with my camera”.
Exhibition on display until February 7, 2025 at the Maison des Provinces, 8, rue du Lieutenant-Godineau (tel. 02.54.74.38.89), from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Thursday . Closed at 6 p.m. Friday.
