Olivier Valsecchi initially studied music as a teenager. As he began creating cover art for his record sleeves, he became passionate and engrossed by photography. He then spent the next ten years taking portraits for his own enjoyment and mastering his skills upon entering the ETPA photography school to perfect his technical skills. His work is dark and mysterious, oozing the magic of nature, and uniquely represents the peculiar cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. As a way to translate his emotions, Valsecchi doesn't magnify one's body but rather, uses it as an empty vessel to channel his own subconsciousness, therefore compose pictures that he qualifies as self-portraits, although he doesn’t necessarily physically appear on the photos. He finds his whole working system, from visualizing a certain image to capturing the moment, to be based on his personal instinct. With his striking black and white images and almost statuesque models, Valsecchi’s work truly brings beauty and character to aspects of life that are rarely thought of as alluring.

The genesis of Equilibrium appears to be almost accidental, with no prior conceptualization or planning, which is an exception in Valsecchi's body of work. It imposed itself almost naturally following some personal events which led him to stay away from photography for a while. This period of time, which he defines as a moment of static bewilderment, eventually acted as the catalyst to a new and balanced state of motion.

Instinctively arranging human bodies as a vessel for his own mental state, Valsecchi rooted them in front of a muted background recalling his previous series, Amazon. The choice for this dark juniper green color is for the artist inherently linked to the origins of classical painting, hence establishing a parallel to his subject: a turning point. Equilibrium also highlights the importance of working on oneself to stay afloat. While some characters are submitted to an intense pressure, Valsecchi points at the importance of the viewer's personal approach to interpret his images: is the model intensely pushing a wall away, or conversely, using it to take support and balance? The title itself, Equilibrium, implies the existence of two opposing states. These are depicted here as senses of heaviness and lightness, which are delicately illustrated by the postures; While some seem to reach a breaking point, others are on the verge of levitating.