Biography
Olivier Desmet (b. 1973, Belgium) is a photographer and darkroom printer in Mill Valley, California. Deeply influenced by the Japanese aesthetic philosophy of mono no aware, which emphasises the fleeting beauty of things, his work evokes quiet introspection.
Desmet’s practice is rooted in traditional darkroom techniques. He considers a photograph incomplete until it is realised in the darkroom, where subtle gradations of tone and contrast give his work emotional depth and clarity.
Desmet’s work has been widely recognised and featured in publications including The Financial Times, Metropolis Japan, Tokyo Weekender, and The Southern Review. He has published three monographs: Mono no Aware (2021), exploring impermanence; Tsukiji (2022), a visual elegy to Tokyo’s historic fish market; and Marine Layer (2023), a meditation on the relationship between fog and light. His photograph, Ichiyuki-San Performs Kabuki Dance, from the Portraits of Maiko series, is part of the International Museum of Dance’s permanent collection.
Education
M.A. Photography (In progress) - Falmouth University
B.A. Photography - Southern New Hampshire University (Summa Cum Laude)
Artist Statement
Expressing the beauty of transience is central to my practice. Inspired by artists who examined impermanence, such as Irving Penn and Masahisa Fukase, I view photography as the ideal medium: each image records a moment that is otherwise lost in time.
This philosophy informs both my selection of subjects and my creative process. Because my work centers on ephemerality, I intentionally employ traditional printing methods, such as the gelatin silver process, to transform ephemeral moments into enduring physical prints. Producing tangible darkroom prints fulfills this vision.
Self portrait - 2020