Selected work
Twelve years of one coastline, photographed the same way each time.
All work is silver gelatin, printed by hand in the studio. Editions are small and closed. Click any frame to see it larger.
Series — an edit
Salt Line 2022 — 2024
Nine visits to the salt works at Salin-de-Giraud, made between the September harvest and the first flooding of the pans. Shown here in the order they were taken, which is also the order the water leaves.
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Pump House
Plate I — the seawater intake, still running.
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First Cut
Plate II — the harvester's first pass across pan seven.
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Crust
Plate III — four centimetres of salt, three days dry.
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The Long Bank
Plate IV — two kilometres of dyke, seen at eye level.
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Loader at Rest
Plate V — Sunday, with the season finished.
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Flooding
Plate VI — the gates opened, and it all goes back.
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Recent commissions
- Le Monde Magazine (Paris)
- Musée Regards de Provence
- Aperture
- Éditions Sextant
- Fondation Camargue
- The New York Times
- Grand Port Maritime
- Apartamento
About
I photograph places that are still working, an hour before or after anybody is there.
Mara Oyelaran has photographed the working edges of the Mediterranean since 2016. The salt pans at Salin-de-Giraud, the quarries above Carrara, the 5am ferry terminals. Places that are neither landscape nor city.
She works in black and white, on film, and prints everything herself in Lisbon. The studio takes on four commissions a year.
Work has appeared in Le Monde Magazine, Aperture and Apartamento, and in group shows in Lisbon, Marseille and Athens.
Prints are made to order in editions of twelve.
16
31
4×5
Index
Exhibitions
- 2025 Salt Line Galerie Sextant, Paris Solo
- 2025 Working Water Musée Regards de Provence, Marseille Group
- 2024 The Last Industry Fotogalerie Wien, Vienna Group
- 2023 Quarry Centre Photographique, Arles Solo
- 2022 Coast, Interrupted Format Festival, Derby Group
- 2021 Berths Galerie Sextant, Paris Solo
Collections & press
- Bibliothèque nationale de France Print collection, 2024
- Musée Regards de Provence Permanent collection, 2023
- Aperture Portfolio, issue 251
- Le Monde Magazine "Le sel et la lumière", 2024
- Prix HSBC pour la Photographie Shortlist, 2023
Contact
Prints, commissions, and the occasional teaching week.
The studio answers everything, usually within two working days. For prints, tell me which piece and what size you have in mind — most work can be printed larger than the listed edition size by arrangement.
Write directly studio@maraoyelaran.com
Currently
- Print orders open — ships in 10 days
- Commissions booked from October