Biographie
The work of Martine Roch derives from her love for both animals and photography.?She started off by observing animal expressions and quickly came to the conclusion that they were “almost human”.
Don’t we all have “an animal in us”? Don’t we all notice owners resembling their pets and vice versa?
It’s this idea of the combining of the animal and the human that make up her work. Martine believes that these symbiotic relationships work in real life as they do in her portraits”.
The basis of her images are antique photographs that she has collected for years. Martine believes these old photographs have a soul.
The images are then lovingly and painstakingly hand coloured from their original sepia.
She takes the photos of the animals herself. Martine treats animals with love and respect, not with mockery.
When she’s creating an image, she’s has time to get acquainted with the character, she also imagines a little scene to go with the portrait and produces an ironic or witty quote to flesh out the characters story.
“My works primary objective is to bring a smile to people’s faces. I then leave it to the viewer to
react as they feel whilst looking at the characters”
Portraits by Martine are timeless and elegant, they fit easily into both classical or contemporary interiors.
Her works are shown in both Europe and America.