Arcades I
Grand-rue, Clervaux

Michel Medinger's petrol pumps are on their way to becoming a dying breed.

Yet the issue is not about gauging how much longer our society can afford this precious liquid, since the price paid for unlimited mobility has already become almost unaffordable.

No, Michel Medinger's work is not about the content, but the packaging. The pumps seem to hail from a different era, their shapes and colours no longer having anything in common with contemporary petrol pumps. Today, row upon row, modern machines blend into an anonymous and globalised architecture, with only the nozzle and hose revealing their true purpose, whereas the images captured by this Luxembourg photographer reveal individual creations, structures that appear to have their own character.

Much like toy robots reminiscent of the Hugo Gernsback era, there is something fantastical about them. Simple objects, designed according to the principles of functionality, they evoke the language of shapes from a bygone era. Their presence shines through and they inevitably strike up a dialogue with the observer.

Regardless of whether or not these petrol pumps are still operational, this is an impressive collection by a photographer who has captured these pumps in a most picturesque manner, giving them a fine art quality.

Michel Medinger lives in Contern (L).

www.medinger.lu