Salembier's work is aimed at the perfection of form and the balance of light that render the plasticity of the forms an indispensable characteristic. The means he uses to communicate his study of light and form is not simply photography, but the film itself.
Returning to the literal concept of photography as writing with light, it only follows that digital technology has no place in this context. He has returned to the dark room in which the rotundity of the film grain that sculpts the light renders unusable the sharp-edged pixels which appear mute. Printing in the dark room includes processes that remove or add light, processes that become cold manipulation in digital technology where it is bits of information that are added or subtracted.
Salembier's approach brings to mind the "operetor" described by Roland Barthes in which photographs are "tied to the restricted view from the key hole of the dark room". It is his desire to rediscover this craft, this skill, that leads him to be involved in every phase of his work. From the shot in 35mm using his Leica M6, to selecting the most appropriate photo paper and creating the chemical compounds that permit him to obtain highly precise gradations of contrast. The result is works that stand out for their fine prints and compositional balance in all the genres with which he has experimented.

© Paul Salembier