Tolstoy believed that all the beauty of life was made of light and shadow. And indeed, without the play of shadows cast by the light, the elegant details of a Palladio façade, the bold forms of a sculpture by Henry Moore, or the exquisite lines of a beautiful face would remain invisible to our eyes.
Without the contrast between light and darkness, everything would be flat, indistinguishable and monotonous. The same is probably true for perfume. The uplifting notes of a citric summer fragrance shine brighter against the canvas of a woody or earthy base. Just as an innocent floral bouquet gains depth and meaning when the perfumer adds a tiny quantity of a “dirty” animalic ingredient.
In his third production for Scentury, photographer Klas Foerster created a series of perfume still lifes that tell a tale of light and shadow. These dramatically illuminated images create a perfect backdrop for a selection of rich, multilayered perfumes that masterfully play with the contrast of dark and light notes and accords. Enjoy!
PHOTOGRAPHY: Klas Foerster, @klasfoerster
Light and shadow …
… are opposite sites of the same coin.
01. Dunhill : Indian Sandalwood
“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”
—Mark Twain
PERFUMER: Carlos Benaim
YEAR: 2019
www.dunhill.com
02. D.S. Durga: Bowmakers
“There is a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.”
—Leonhard Cohen
PERFUMER: David Seth Moltz
YEAR: 2013
www.dsanddurga.com
03. Maison d’Etto: Canaan
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.”
—Martin Luther King
PERFUMER: Celine Barel
YEAR: 2019
www.maisondetto.com
04. Roos & Roos: Pale Blue Eyes
“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.”
—Terry Pratchett
PERFUMER: Dominqiue Ropion
YEAR: 2019
www.roosandroos.fr
05. Lorenzo Villoresi: Theseus
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
—Plato
PERFUMER: Lorenzo Villoresi
YEAR: 2011
www.lorenzovilloresi.it
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