Epaul Julien

Epaul Julien Artist Statement
“If you wish to get hold of the invisible, you must penetrate as deeply as possible into the visible.”
M. Beckmann

A near death experience in my early twenties inspired me to do something meaningful that I could share with the world. Three weeks after leaving the emergency room I decided I was going to focus on appreciating the mystery of life thru the lens of my camera. With a Nikon FT-2 around my neck I began roaming freely through time and space, both physically and metaphysically. A long the way I have discovered that my work reveals a unique and highly personal perspective on historical issues and minority cultures that speaks to the here and now as well as to the future.
My first body of work focused on the people and ephemeral beauty of Southern Louisiana. New Orleans, much of my work si focused on New Orleans. It is a beautiful decaying, mysterious city with a powerful history and precedence in Creole culture. In this body of work you will see how the images becomes a meditation on light, energy, rhythm and movement.
I became interested in history at a young age because I learned that my grand father Leonard Julien, Sr. invented the sugar cane planting machine in Modeste Louisiana. My great great grand father Etienne Julien resettled in New Orleans after the first successful slave revolt in Haiti in 1812. History led to more history and my desire for adventure, experience, life and knowledge led me to Haiti where my second body of work was created that shows the relationship between New Orleans and Haiti.
Seeking the invisible thru the visible means that I intentionally go beyond the laws of documentary photography. My work becomes a meditation flooded with soft light, passionate focus, movement, rhythm, spirit and most recently color.
Being able to share my journey through art with the world gives me a since of living forever. My contribution to humanity is to use this energy to share my light through my art with the world and with generations to come.
Expression-Light-Energy-Spirit-Movement-Texture-Value.
Everything I work through in my personal life, I try to work it out in my art. In this process I am sharing my dreams and experience of life with the world.