Olivier Roller: A personal pilgrim for power

A Terracotta Warrior is revealed in sharp contrast in this photo, courtesy of Olivier Roller. [Photo by Ruan Fan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Now, his power project is stretching to China, where he made stunning profiles of the Terracotta Warriors.

In The Tears of the Earth, his new exhibition now in Beijing and later in Changsha, the photographer compares the two world powers from over 2,000 years ago, the Roman Empire( 27 BC-AD395) and the Qin Dynasty(221-207BC).

"Imagine during that time, there are only two muscles in the world, and they don't communicate, and now I make them communicate in this exhibition. It's cool."

Once again, he spent hours alone in the museum with the statues, adjusting lights and trying all possible angles until he could not make any other changes.

"You know if you move one centimeter, the shadow is not the same and the face is not the same," Roller said. Adding that he finally managed to get a few satisfying pictures of the two warriors - from over 200 photos out of the day's 10-hour shoot.

According to Roller, the experience reinforced the idea of how we should deal with our faces and our skin, as time leaves marks on them.

"You know people usually find these pictures of the statues amazing, with the stains or the scars. So if you like this kind of picture, you should also love the marks on your skin; you should know that curves are also beautiful."

Asked why he is so obsessed with power, Roller said, "I don't know, maybe it's because my father left me when I was six months old, so I'm looking for a father in my work. I confront my past through those people of authority."

Now it's almost 28 years since Roller made his first portrait of "fatherly authority", his grandfather. He is not sure when and where his journey to illustrate power will come to an end, but he surely has gone far beyond the clichés of portraiture: Stand up straight, smile, be beautiful!

To see the video of the photo exhibition, The Tears of the Earth, please click here.

If you go

Beijing May 15 – August 31 at Temple Restaurant

Changsha June 25 – July 25 at Meixi New City