Past Exhibition
In Vino Veritas? by Jon Wyand
22 October - 4 November 2020
Having spent the best part of twenty years shooting stock and assignments on wine for books and magazines, I have developed my own point of view about the importance of authenticity and the role photography had in communicating about wine. Wine had become an obscenely priced and unreliable marker of success and good taste. I had no interest in it beyond personal pleasure once it got into the bottle. I was not interested in its “lifestyle” story.
Winemakers are primarily farmers with an added talent. Extremely grounded and authentic people whose success depends on the whims of nature. The people and processes I had got to know and understand were a much more rewarding subject than the consumers.
In modern parlance I suppose my interest was greater in wine’s “back story”.
Being invited to give my “4 seasons” approach to a less high end region was challenging in that I had no great knowledge of it geographically nor very many personal contacts there. I have found that trust and loyalty are important aspects of my working method, along with a degree of humility. Here relationships had to be built from scratch.
The more famous and expensive wine areas get swamped by media and visiting egos. The Côte Chalonnaise, a less celebrated area of Burgundy turned out to be different. More relaxed and open, it was a far easier place to understand and be understood. I was able to relax into the job very easily and serendipity took a loose hold on planning. It became a simple matter of being observant and inquisitive. And then falling in love with the place.
View Jon's profile in Find here
Read our interview with Jon here
Image © Jon Wyand