Glory in the mirror

Captured at blue hour, in a rigorously architectured composition, Olivier Petit seizes a moment of suspended stillness where Arvernian mythology encounters the contemporary city. The equestrian figure of Vercingetorix, erected at the center of Place de Jaude in Clermont-Ferrand, stands out powerfully against a steel-hued sky, bathed in a diffuse light that lends the scene a theatrical atmosphere.

The low-angle framing, aligned with the water’s surface, enhances the monumentality of the sculpture while bestowing upon it a ghostly double through the play of reflection. This liquid mirror, rendered with almost painterly precision, introduces a reversed reading of power and memory: it is no longer merely the statue that dominates the square, but the mental image it casts into the collective imagination.

The work explores the persistence of symbols within the urban landscape and questions how history becomes inscribed—and reflected—within the material of the present. Through its tension between heroic verticality and silent horizontality, Reflected Glory affirms a deeply sculptural photographic vision—poised between tribute and reinterpretation.

It’s not just what we see — but how we look.

Art photo limited edition of 10 prints.
Shooting date: 2024
Next available print : 1/10