Cesar Ancelle Hansen was introduced to photography in the late 1990s growing up in the flat country of Northern France.
In his work, Cesar strives to capture the atmosphere of life near the ocean, through color, tone, silhouettes, and light. His stripped-down approach to photography focuses on spontaneity as he strives to capture the exuberance of life on the coast of France. The results are very convincing, and Cesar quickly gained popularity in France with many requests for his work to appear in galleries and shows. All his prints are made in a limited series in the process of digigraphie, a high quality form of inkjet printing. Cesar continues to reside in France.
The photographs in Anyon’s collection are part of a series taken by Hansen at the French resort town of Biarritz on the Atlantic coast. Historically a medieval whaling settlement, Biarritz gained popularity in the middle of the nineteenth century among the European
aristocracy who flocked to the town after hearing tales of the purported healing properties of its waters. By the 1950s, Biarritz was falling out of favor with the rich and famous as the French Riviera came into vogue. However, when an American filmmaker brought along his surfboard to Biarritz during a shoot, the coastal town found its new calling as the surf capital of Europe.
Though set in France, Hansen’s photographs effortlessly capture a laidback California aesthetic with their mesmerizing, saturated hues and dreamlike figures floating on undulating waves.