Thibaud Poirier: Unique Picture Guide Through the European Libraries

Thibaud Poirier – Photographer and Traveler

     Thibaud Poirier is a young French photographer based in Paris who spent years traveling around the world and meeting new cultures and cities such as Buenos Aires, Houston, Montreal, and Tokyo. His passion for photography and traveling gave a specific style to his work – he wants to show beauty and energy of the spaces he captures. Recently, Thibaud traveled across Europe and photographed some of the world’s most beautiful libraries.

Places of Self-Discovery

In 2017, Thibaud Poirier captured circa 25 breathtaking European libraries. Why the photographer decided to take pictures of these “places of self-discovery“? First of all, he was fascinated with the interior design of the libraries built in different centuries. His idea is to represent how libraries were changing their look across time and space.

The Libraries

The series simply called Libraries consist some of the most incredible images of the libraries built in different epochs, f.e: Biblioteca joanina in Coimbra (1728), Trinity college library in Dublin (1732),  Bibliothèque de l’hotel de ville de Paris (1890), Stadtbibliothek in Stuttgart (2011).

The photographer portrayed libraries when there are no people around. His photos have a recognizable aesthetic and structure – Thibaud highlights various ideas applied by architects: “like fingerprints, each architect crafted his vision for a new space for this sacred self-exploration.” Symmetry and light are the most important for the photographer. Each image “produce modern portraits” and show us how the design, the natural or artificial light, and use of space were changing during different periods and for different sensibilities.