Haser, Darzacq /
Photofairs San Francisco

For Photofairs San Francisco 2018, De Soto Gallery presented work by Alma Haser and Denis Darzacq, marking the US debut of Haser’s Within 15 Minutes and Darzacq’s Contreformes. Both series explore identity, abstraction, and the boundaries between the physical and digital realms.

Alma Haser’s practice merges photography with intricate paper-folding, collage, and puzzle-making to create surreal, tactile portraits. Her series Cosmic Surgery imagines origami-inspired facial alterations as a futuristic blend of cosmetic surgery and anti-surveillance technology. Her follow-up series Within 15 Minutes shifts focus to the strangeness of identical twins. The work features twin portrait puzzles that question the idea of two versions of the same person, highlighting the tension between nature and nurture in an increasingly artificial world.

Denis Darzacq’s work similarly blurs the lines between reality and abstraction. His series Doublemix and Contreformes investigate consumerism and digital culture through hybrid photo-sculptures. In Contreformes, Darzacq layers photographs with sculptural interventions to question the disposability of objects and the fleeting nature of human interaction in a hyper-connected age. His formalist approach reflects the alienation and disconnection of navigating existence in both virtual and physical spaces.

Alma Haser (b. 1989, Black Forest, Germany) has exhibited extensively in Europe and the United States. She won the Magenta Foundation’s Bright Spark Award for Cosmic Surgery and was shortlisted for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize.

Denis Darzacq (b. 1961, Paris, France) has exhibited extensively across Europe and North America. He received the World Press Photo Award and the Niépce Prize. His work is held in public and private collections including the Centre Pompidou, Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.