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REVEALING THE TERROIR

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OTHER SECRETS
Editorial
Editorial

In the crazy era of the ephemeral and the immediate that is ours today, Troplong Mondot invites you to take the time to invoke this “Sense of Place”, unique to the estate. To reflect and exchange, like we would over a glass of wine. To stand tall, like Troplong Mondot on its hilltop, overlooking the view and stretching out across the horizon. To question ourselves and our surroundings. To challenge our ideas against those of others so as to find the truth. To take a step back so as to alter our point of view and open ourselves to new perspectives.

 

Over a short break, whilst reading, eyes will cross to give a particular light to Troplong Mondot’s world.  Each and every theme and encounter will reflect its spirit and will reveal its unique character, through the thousand facets that make up its personality. Whether deep or ephemeral, it will be a matter of encounters, discussions, interpretations and either intimate or universal reflections. All in a way that we hope will allow emotions to emerge and that will open the doors of our world to you. The world of Troplong Mondot.

Lookbook | ARTICLE #1

A certain outlook

Johan Berglund,
Documentary photographer
September 2019

Johan Berglund, a Swedish documentary photographer, visits vineyards worldwide, often with the wine critic, Neal Martin. He feels a particular attachment to Bordeaux. Between the harvesting period of 2018 and that of 2020, he surveys Troplong Mondot’s vineyard at his liberty and observes the property’s daily life as well as its ongoing alterations.

His expertise brings a particular meaning to the notion of Sense of Place, so dear to Troplong Mondot. Thanks to him, a whole universe reveals itself: a state of mind that creates a bond between photography and wine.

Taking photos seems so simple. A decent camera or even a phone and click! it’s done… But when you really look into it, it’s not actually that easy. And not just for technical reasons. It’s more a question of the way that you see things.

Learning to observe

 

What makes a photo good is not the subject or the choice of camera. It is rather the ability of the photographer to observe the subject. It’s all in the eye, in the ability to find the most suitable way to treat the matter.

 

When I take a photograph, I know exactly what it will look like once developed. I can imagine it and I have a very clear idea of the final result. But if another photographer takes the same photo, it will be completely different. Simply because we do not observe an identical subject in the same way.

 

Most artists respect the Rule of Thirds: the subject is placed in an area divided into three parts. I do not follow this rule. Almost all of my photos are centered. This is what Kubrick also does. In my opinion, it is with this graphic style that one can really capture true life.

"What defines a good photo,
is the way in which the subject is observed"

Capturing the moment

 

It is generally believed that a photographer should keep a low profile, for example by staying well back and using a telephoto lens. For me, however, it’s just the opposite. I’m like an elephant in the middle of a room! I’m visible, but at the end of the day this is actually my way of being discrete, I just become part of the decor… Through my photos, I want to reveal a life moment.

 

People continue to live and to work and I’m just there, in the midst of it all. This is how I manage to take my best photos, those that reveal a life moment. Every day I take a thousand or so photos… and I only keep fifty-odd. Just those that show that something is happening.

 

I choose to keep the photos that you don’t just pass over before moving onto the next, the photos that you truly observe. I like to captivate people and raise questions. Looking at a photo is like solving a mystery, looking for the life behind it.
"Through my photos, I want to reveal a life moment"

 

It is the graphic structure and the use of contrasts that allows you to notice details. When developing my photos, I play with the accentuation and the emphasis brought on by contrasts, that punctuate the scene and amplify the subject.

Revealing the unspoken

 

When one is, like me, free to choose one’s subject, one needs to feel inspired. For years and years, I saw Troplong Mondot up on its hill, and I thought to myself that it really was the perfect place. I even dreamt of it being mine! Up here, you don’t feel at all limited, you have incredible perspectives.

Within my project, I’m completely free, it’s up to me to choose what I want to take photos of, so as to reveal what it is that makes this place such a different subject. Like a window, open in time.

 

If I am as comfortable as I am with the world of wine it is because the foundation of our work is the same: we do not think about the present but only the future. When someone will taste the 2018 vintage in fifty years’ time, it will be like a window open in time. It’s the same with my photos: they are a part of history. More than just a setting, I want to shoot a turning point, a time when things change.

 

That’s why I work with black and white so much. So that colours do not distract the eye.  The focus is on emotions. Just like for a tasting session, a self-review and a step in time.

 

 

Johan Berglund,
Documentary photographer.
Lookbook | ARTICLE #2

Love at first sight
Lookbook | ARTICLE #3

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