It's Nice That No.8: Free print

Date
6 March 2012

Getting our magazine delivered straight to your door is one thing, but getting the magazine and an exclusive A1-sized print of astounding depth and impeccable detail by photographic genius Cyril Porchet… well, that’s just special. Thankfully, if you pre-order It’s Nice That No.8 now it’s also very possible. Not only will you receive the magazine – which includes a fascinating menagerie of in-depth interviews and exclusive features – you’ll also receive the church image pictured, at sublime mega-scale…

Porchet – a graduate of the consistently fantastic Swiss art school ECAL – began documenting Baroque churches a couple of years ago, initially concentrating on their exuberant altars before moving on to documenting their ceilings. He’s since photographed six, two of which were taken exclusively for It’s Nice That and are published for the first time in the new issue.

But how does he choose which churches to photograph?

“I’ve always selected the ceilings based on their structural arrangements and on the level of saturation within the imagery,” the photographer says. “This visual saturation, at first glance, provides spectators with a certain level of abstraction – the image appears flattened, and reference marks are immediately lost. But before long concrete elements are distinguished and suddenly the composed whole is visible.”

The goal, Porchet says, is not only to reveal the exuberance of Baroque-era churches, but to make a much broader comment on today’s illusionary image culture.

“I see the series as a metaphor of the theatrical mind of our society. The world is now a permanent representation – the false seems true and the true seems false. These ceilings – which incorporate not only the ceilings but the windows and the walls and sometimes even the church organ – become part of a single image. It’s all an illusion.”

Porchet’s ceiling – printed at A1 (594 × 841mm) – will accompany all No.8 pre-orders.

Pre-order now

Share Article

Further Info

About the Author

It's Nice That

This article was written by the It’s Nice That team. To find our editors and writers, please head over to our Contact page.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.