On the trail of the phantom of the Opera

The 3e Scène invited visual artist Stéphanie Solinas to cast her gaze on the Palais Garnier. Using photography as the medium of choice, Stéphanie Solinas explores the question of identity and the tension between the visible and the invisible. Like Alphonse Bertillon, the father of anthropometry in law-enforcement, the artist has chosen to try to draw the portrait of Erik, the hero of Gaston Leroux’s famous novel “The Phantom of the Opera”. Given carte blanche to pursue her project, she has surrounded herself with a team of experts—experts in the invisible—like so many investigators hunting for the ghost. Ne me regarde pas is also a cartographical exploration of the Palais Garnier’s subterranean identity. In this interview, Stéphanie Solinas presents the protagonists of the film, talks about her artistic approach and her affinity with a place like the Palais Garnier.