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In 16 years, I have discovered more than a hundred abandoned pianos in Europe for my artistic series "Requiem pour pianos." It is meant to represent scenes that I photograph in exactly the way I found them.

A year ago, I decided to go to the United States to discover new abandoned places and to find new pianos. I had been working on this project for more than 5 years: making contacts, searching on the internet, creating links with photographers, associations, and institutions...

On November 9th, 2022, the United States reopened its borders to Europeans, so I quickly decided to leave and realize this dream that I had planned for years.

What an unforgettable experience! On the spot, I crossed the state of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. Accompanied by an American friend, we visited more than 20 abandoned places. Victorian houses, hotels, old boarding schools, theatres...

I immortalized nine pianos in varying states of disrepair. Many Lester, Cunningham, Poole, and Steinway & Sons pianos. I also recorded the sounds, in situ, of all the photographed pianos for my future art project. You can check out my other piano photographs hereherehereherehere, and here.

To see more on this project, feel free to visit my website!

More info: romainthiery.fr | Instagram | Facebook

#1

Requiem Pour Pianos 118

Requiem Pour Pianos 118

Abandoned music room since the nineties, where only this New York Sohmer & Co. piano remains.

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I started studying piano at a very early age and continued for many years. At the same time I learned from my mother, a photographer, to use photographic techniques from a very young age. My level did not allow me to become a concert pianist, so I naturally decided to progress in the field of photography, while continuing the piano in a personal way.

In 2008, it was an unforgettable encounter. Indeed, on the heights of a French city, I discovered an abandoned mansion. Inside, everything was empty but there was only a baby grand piano. I could not believe my eyes. The fireplace had been broken. The valuables and noble materials had already disappeared. Only this piano remained. This discovery gave me the idea to create an art project about abandoned pianos in the world. This quest led me to visit a large part of Europe and the United States. I have now discovered more than a hundred forgotten pianos around the world.

#2

Requiem Pour Pianos 113

Requiem Pour Pianos 113

Along a narrow road in the middle of a Pennsylvania, I found this small wooden house still filled with personal objects and a strange blue Poole piano. According to documents found on site, the house has not been lived in since the 1980s.

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Judy Reynolds
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love the colour of the piano - I cannot imagine it having been abandoned for 40 years!

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#3

Requiem Pour Pianos 117

Requiem Pour Pianos 117

A beautiful Steinway & Sons piano inside the sanctuary of an abandoned Presbyterian church.

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I think my work has been evolving ever since I first discovered an abandoned piano. What is most important to me is to capture the power of these forgotten instruments. To show that even covered with dust, the piano still retains its nobility.

I stay hours or even days on the spot in order to capture a light, the one that for me, will highlight the entire scene that I discover and will retranscribe at best the atmosphere that I could live on the spot.

#4

Requiem Pour Pianos 119

Requiem Pour Pianos 119

In the center of a small town, this wooden house is slowly seeing its beauty fade. Inside I discovered an incredible scene centered around a Poole piano.

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Joanne Lawrence
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's so much I want to know about the rest of this room and house. What are all the books? When and why was the house abandoned? Who are the people in the photos/portrait, and why did no one ever come back for even those sentimental objects? The room looks almost frozen in time but for the peeling paint on the door.

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#5

Requiem Pour Pianos 114

Requiem Pour Pianos 114

Two Lester pianos inside the auditorium of the abandoned J.W. Cooper High School in Pennsylvania.

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Amery
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ahhh....to have BEEN THERE in their prime!!! I can almost hear & smell the room.

The process of finding these abandoned pianos is not easy. I use several networks which can range from photographers to music and heritage. The most interesting is word of mouth. Indeed, it also happens that some people, after having read articles about my work or visited one of my exhibitions, guide me towards a new place to discover.

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#6

Requiem Pour Pianos 123

Requiem Pour Pianos 123

Sitting discreetly atop a hill, this Victorian house has not been lived in for a very long time. The owner, who was certainly a music lover, abandoned the house, leaving everything behind, including this Cunningham piano.

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#7

Requiem Pour Pianos 128

Requiem Pour Pianos 128

Deep in the middle of a vast forest, I discovered this upright piano suffering from excess humidity and exposure to the elements.

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scapa joe
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow, the stairs are brilliant, I want to go upstairs and look round

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This project continues to evolve. Photography remains the main medium, but for several years now I have been recording the serial numbers of pianos, where they exist. For I have put my singular expertise at the service of the association Musique & Spoliations, which has set itself the mission of finding the instruments despoiled by the Sonderstab Music, the "Music Commando", created in August 1940 in France by the Nazi regime. The precious information collected is passed on to the association, which cross-references it with its archives to try to reconstruct the history of the instrument.

In addition, for several years now, I have been recording in situ, whenever possible, note by note, all the sounds of the pianos I discover. These recordings will be used to build a collection of virtual instruments that I will make available to the public online and at my exhibitions.

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This method allows me to create a realistic sound model, to immortalize the sound of these pianos, and to capture their identities.

These sample libraries will give a second life to abandoned and sometimes hard-to-reach pianos, giving hundreds of musicians around the world the opportunity to make them sound.

This research will be presented at an upcoming exhibition in Paris.

#8

Requiem Pour Pianos 122

Requiem Pour Pianos 122

Steinway & Sons grand piano in this house was abandoned for more than two decades.

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#9

Requiem Pour Pianos 115

Requiem Pour Pianos 115

I discovered a Cunningham piano in this dilapidated Victorian house. Founded in 1891, the Cunningham Piano Company was one of the largest and most successful manufacturers in the Philadelphia piano industry.

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Amery
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If pianos could talk...I bet that beaut would have some stories to tell.

#10

Requiem Pour Pianos 120

Requiem Pour Pianos 120

This beautiful Victorian home still houses a Lester upright piano that’s in good working condition.

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#11

Requiem Pour Pianos 116 II

Requiem Pour Pianos 116 II

I discovered a Cunningham piano in this dilapidated Victorian house.

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Amery
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Once again; if pianos (or old homes) could tell us what secrets they hold.

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