Gabriel Mauron

Homes On Hold

Sep 04, 2023

Gabriel, a self-taught photographer hailing from Switzerland, delves into the profound connection between humanity and the landscape. With a strong interest in architecture, Gabriel passionately seeks out locations where human intervention reshapes the natural world. Simultaneously, he examines how these constructions are in turn influenced by their surroundings.
In his compelling series, 'Homes On Hold,' Gabriel explores the concept of the home as a dream deferred, its realization unrealized. These constructions not only bear the imprint of their natural environment but also carry the weight of the social circumstances that have stalled their completion.

First of all thank you very much for your contribution to our project. Can you please introduce yourself for us?

Thanks to you for having me on analog mag. A real pleasure to share this time together and have the opportunity to introduce you my ‘Homes On Hold’ project. My third photographic book.

As a quick introduction, I am Gabriel Mauron a passionate self-taught photographer based in Geneva, Switzerland. As a creative director in the communication/advertising field, I am really attached to conception. I had the chance to collaborate with many photographers, directors, and creatives who were a great source of inspiration. My photographic work deals with the way human beings adapt themselves to their environment and the direct impact this has on the landscape. To do so, I am looking for circumstances when expectations and reality collide.

How did you start in photography?

Thanks to a close friend, who by the way, has also been featured in analog mag, Pascal Greco.

For long time I have been interested in architecture and due to certain circumstances I decided to interpret it my own way through photography.

Somehow photography helps me to tell stories that I can’t write and helps also me to understand and learn about the subjects I approach.

This is a little bit like in my job, connecting people from different backgrounds around the same topic creates, I believe, the best storytelling and is a real source of inspiration.

What is ‘Homes On Hold' about?

‘Homes On Hold - Traces of unfulfilled dreams’ is a visual reflection on the poetry of the uncompleted. At first glance, this project seems to merely be a collection of many unauthorized, unfinished and abandoned houses that very strikingly characterize the barren landscape of the Salento peninsula in southern Italy. They lend rhythm to the landscape, incorporating it and participating in its transformation. Upon closer look, these ‘Homes on Hold’ provoke reflections that are addressed on an anthropological-cultural and socio-economic level, via architecture and esthetics, as to the existential foundations of life plans and their fragility.

What was your motivation behind this project?

These houses reflect the fragility of a dream. But they are also evidence of personal sacrifice and a creativity that brims over and has no fixed rules. What may be perceived as an error thus becomes a source of inspiration.

Finally, it was important for me to re-position these home-building projects in the human context that gave rise to them. Upon my request, inhabitants of the region came to the sites of these homes under construction. They are not the owners, but I immortalize their presence on these sites. They share their perspectives and their impressions, attesting to a great deal of patience and another manner of approaching time. This work renders homage to the “Salentini” and their unflagging desire to construct their own future.

In general, what inspires your work?

As quickly said before, circumstances when expectations and reality collide.
I guess, what also inspires and drives my work is the will to find a meaningful and sometimes unexpected way to tell a story. It does challenge and help me to find different angles to understand a topic.

Who are your favourite photographers / artists?

Today I will focus on two: Yann Gross (I am a big fan of his work Lavina - Avalanches), and Sophie Ebrard. I love all the details that are part of her work and which help to support the story that she highlights.
But to be honest, over the years, I realize that it is more and more talents outside photography that inspire my work and the craft that goes with it.

What is your favourite photo book?

1. Lettres du Caucase - Philippe Herbet.
2. The Land In Between - Ursula Schulz Dornburg.
3. Passport - Alexander Chekmenev.

The three of them are a unique and inspiring journey.

Thank you very much for your time and contribution to analog magazine.

An absolute pleasure and thanks so much for the support and your involvement in analog photography.
Take care