The Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents presents “Little Spoon” (2024), an installation by Valentin Derom composed of four photographs that break up and reconstitute two bodies entwined in the “spoon” position. When joined together, the photographs form a body of imperfect proportions, while when separated, they reveal scenes of everyday life, sublimating the beauty of intimacy. This work questions the ambiguity of human relationships, the vulnerability of the body and the impossibility of perfect unity within a couple. The images reveal the complex nature of the couple and the place of gendered roles: “while in the first images, the two people seem fused together as one, it becomes clearer that they are in fact two distinct people as the gaze moves towards the last images. The different elements of the scene do not coincide, which evokes the impossibility of unity”. The prints of this work, presented at OFFSCREEN, were made by the artist himself, underlining his involvement in every stage of the creative process.

Born in 1996, Valentin Derom is a visual artist who, after a degree in literature, went on to study at the Beaux-Arts in Lyon, then at the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie (ENSP) in Arles, where he is currently preparing a master’s degree. Defining himself more as an artist using photography than as a photographer, he focuses his practice on interpersonal relationships and the dynamics between photographer, subject and viewer. By photographing those closest to him, Derom explores intimacy and human vulnerability, and raises political and conceptual questions around identity, gender roles and emotional distance. His works, while visual representations, invite deep reflection on human relationships and the subtleties of interaction.

The House of Dior and artists have always had strong ties, as shown by its history of friendships and collaborations. Photography holds a very special place in this history, thanks to the “Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents” created in 2018 in partnership with Luma Arles and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Photographie d’Arles. This event, initiated by Parfums Christian Dior, celebrates its taste for boldness and discovery, and is intended as a crossroads for exchanges and encounters with the young talents of tomorrow. For the second time as a partner of Offscreen, Dior would like to highlight Valentin Derom, winner of the special mention of the 7th edition 2024 of the Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents.