Le Bateau Ivre 2019-2023

Martin Essl is an Austrian photographer who has lived in Paris for many years. A reference to Arthur Rimbaud’s poem of the same name, in which the writer uses the image of a boat to represent a man’s journey through life, Le bateau ivre is part of Essl’s autobiographical work. In a photographic essay structured like a play in five acts, the photographer sketches the contours of a city in transformation. Composing an abstract, contemporary map of Paris, he explores the relationships between people, the city, time and memory.