Her Portraits series focusses on rural buildings with their vernacular architecture and resilience to adverse weather. Regrettably, the new efficiency standards in construction, the changes in agricultural economy and even the trend for reclaimed wood – amongst other reasons – are slowly contributing to their disappearance. Martine feels some urgency to capture them while still standing tall and proud, on their own, in the fields and various topographies. In situ, in their company, particularly on snowy days, she “hears the silence” that surrounds them, disconcerting in comparison to the melodies of the city. She learns with them to appreciate solitude. This collection is about portraits. To remember.

At the heart of the Filées series is a profound sense of place, as Martine explores the dance between time and light, movement and stillness, ephemerality and permanence. She inhales and inhabits the essence of a scene, teasing out the vibration from the stillness, the quick impression from the lasting effect, the nuance from the familiar. These images are built entirely in the camera – lenses are Martine’s brushes and the elements of Nature her tubes of paint. When placed side by side, the Filées show the horizon as a continuous line, like an étoile filante, a shooting star streaking across the sky. The line is never ending. Filées dances between time and light and is both permanent and ephemeral, with infinite possibilities and limitless promise.