"I see pictures as something unreal,
that doesn't represent reality"
1/ Can you introduce yourself and tell us how you got
into photography?
I was born in 1979 in a little town called Croix in the
North of France. I actually got into photography by
coincidence, because I wanted to work in movies and music. I
had started learning Magic, and mostly studied art, I touched
on paintings, drawings, sculptures and so on. And I finally
got to discover the dark room while in high school. Funny
story I had never really held a camera and I remember going
to the movies to see Face off (by John Woo). At the time we
had photography classes and the teacher had given us
assignments and as I went to the movies I got blown away by
the images, the doves, the angles, the images and so on were
amazing. So immediately after I bought a roll of film and a
little compact camera and started making images, later on my
teacher lent me a more sophisticated camera which helped do
more technical shots. At the time I used to hate photography,
in my class there were a lot of girls and because of the
chemicals they would always be whining in the dark room, and
I could never enjoy working there, but one day I got it all
to myself, and as I was developing my image I saw it appear.
It was magical, I fell completely in love. I was 17 at the
time. I had always liked cinema, and since a young age always
wanted to create little stories, photography was like a
logical step that helped me do that.
2/ What type of photography do you practise and what
or who are your influenced by?
I tend to do what I call natural photography, something that
isn't forced, like studio work (there's nothing wrong with
it), but I don't like to predict things, I like photography
that is candid, vivid, made in the instant, "everyday life"
photography as I call it. What I really like is the substance
of the image. You see I used to be a lab technician I would
develop pictures for other photographers, and I started to
have the will to make pictures for myself and of course
develop them for myself. I didn't enjoy taking pictures, it
was more about seeing the image appear in the dark room.
And so for a long time I searched what it was I wanted to
photograph, the pictures I wanted to make, in which direction
I wanted to go. Photography was like laying out things. And
little by little I got into street photography, something
more atmospheric, which expresses a certain mood. Bernard
Plossu's was a big influence.