Valérie Belin’s (born 1964) photographs avoid simple representation or description, even though she often chooses to photograph simple objects, such as glasses, silverware, Venetian mirrors, cars, or animal carcasses. Instead she is attempting to unveil the very essence of her subjects and to delve into the deepest secrets of things, of matter and of light, almost independent of the objects themselves.

This comprehensive retrospective of Belin’s work also includes all her other suites – her questioning of corporeality in her explicit studies of bodybuilders; the series of Moroccan brides which broach complex issues of identity and representation; and her investigations of hybrid entities, such as transsexuals, Michael Jackson look-alikes and the mannequins in shop windows.