Open Theme nominee

What is it about the piano that evokes such nostalgia and strong emotions within us, even after centuries as a household instrument ? It must be said that music instruments are, for us, forever beautiful, almost destified.

Romain Thiery believes the piano to be, in his own words, « deeply rooted in the depths of our culture » and sought to explore the instrument from an original angle. He made his life’s mission to combine his two biggest passions and set out to find abandoned mansions around Europe where old pianos had been left behind. The series that emerged from Thiery’s work is called « Requiem pour pianos ». Since 10 years, he found more than 100 forgotten pianos.

Above all, Romain Thiery has understood that everything but a grand piano can be taken. The inhabitants left and took with them their belongings, and probably their furniture as well. What he wants to show is the importance and the weight of social codes: what better then than an instrument made of two-hundred and fifty kilograms of cast iron delicately set with precious wood? Is the piano an object or a tool?

Romain Thiery, a native of France who lives in Montpellier, is a self-taught professional photographer, born 1988. Romain is an amateur piano player starting learning piano at the age of 5. Starting photography following the work of his mother specialized in heritage photography. That hobby turned into a passion and a profession the day he found a forgotten piano in an abandoned castle.
Romain Thiery believes the piano to be, in his own words, « deeply rooted in the depths of our culture » and sought to explore the instrument from an original angle. He made his life’s mission to combine his two biggest passions and set out to find abandoned mansions around Europe where old pianos had been left behind. The series that emerged from Thiery’s work is called « Requiem pour pianos ».
During the last years he has won international photography awards from different competitions, and photography festival including the Israel Photography festival, Photographer of the Year at the Moscow International Foto Awards, and finalist at the LosAngeles Center Digital for Art. His solo exhibitions have been seen in many countries such as France, United States, Israel, Norway, Germany, Slovenia, France, Switzerland, Spain, and United Kingdom.