Photographing grapevines has become a pet passion of mine since I started The Vine Route blog. Mostly I’m looking at them as part of the landscape—a way of capturing the beauty and uniqueness of each vineyard. While at the recent Vinisud (held from February 22 to 24 in Montpellier) I had the opportunity to see a more intimate look at grapevines—a series of photos of just-pruned vines, without any leaves or distracting background elements to get in the way.
“Les Monstres des Vignes” was the title of the photo exhibition, which was the work of a talented photographer from Montpellier named Alain Reynaud. You can see these fascinating images on Reynaud’s website (which is in French), as well as other examples of his photographic work (make sure to check out the “Banque d’image viticole” with an equally amazing collection of black-and-white images of winemakers).
Reynaud, through close-up photography and high dynamic range imaging that enhances the images’ tonal detail, has turned inanimate vines into menacing-eyed, scaly-skinned “monsters.” He has a master’s eye, and obviously the patience to capture, through the right lighting, the shadows and highlights that personify his subject matter.
This self-taught photographer says that his photographs are taken from the perspective of an “insider.” He spends a great deal of time in the vineyards, not only to take photographs, but also harvesting grapes or pruning vines. If his photographs have an authentic look, it’s because he’s put in the hard work to capture them.
