Laurent Chehere and his Flying Houses

After many years as art director, working with the likes of Nike, Adidas, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesey (LVMH) and others, French artist Laurent Chehere left everything to travel the world, accompanied only by his camera.

He explores cities, suburbs, country after country, where he discovers a different world of photography than many and bridges the gap between reportage and conceptualism.

From his love for architecture combined with a strong creativity that characterizes him he gave birth to this personal project where he gifts us with a dreamer's vision of places we refer to as 'home' floating on a journey through the sky, attempting to leave reality and its' difficulties behind to reach unknown and far-flung destinations.

One of his latest projects,'Flying Houses', is a focused collection of residences flying away; in part inspired by Albert Lamorisse's film, Le Ballon Rouge.

Following a child named called Pascal and a red balloon he found by chance, the movie is an incredible narration of friendship represented through the innocent eyes of childhood.

This idea is fleshed out in Chehere's photographic project as he mimics the same dreamlike vision to take old Parisian houses out of their traditionally urban milieu.

Houses fluctuating in time and space act as true metaphors of travel. Suspended and free, the expression freed from all of their poetic veins.

The houses seem searching for a suspended dream, far away from the preoccupations and problems of daily life. They are still connected to the real world by electric lines, but eerily present no visible sign of human presence.

Marked by graffiti on walls or fire out of windows, with transmitting antennas or with placards we see that Chehere's houses fly motionless. When they leave the ground, they become flying prisons, that can burn without allowing a way to escape.

The simultaneous exploration of freedom and isolation juxtaposes well with the unique subject matter.