PLANT

In the last 2 weeks I have seen many photographs by David Lachapelle and Robert Frank and other photographers in different museums/art galleries in Paris. And then I saw the "Female nude standing in doorway" by Francis Bacon in Beaubourg. After that, I remembered what I think really: photography is not an art. Some photographs are powerful, some express a real sensibility and are esthetically satisfying; and of course a photograph is never a copy of the outside world, since any representation is an interpretation... so it is true that you need real talent to make a beautiful photograph. But you also need the world as a part of the image production process. You can not separate the process and the physical world. When Bacon paints the woman, she exists only in his brain, in his hand, in his muscles tension. And it doesn't matter if she is standing in front of him or not -Bacon as a human being, as flesh witnessing flesh, is the only sensitive film that records light and shapes. Maybe this is why I feel overwhelmed by some paintings with an intensity that no photograph can even imitate. And maybe it doesn't matter at all; but for some reason, I think it does.

ANASTASIA

I photographed Anastasia at the Palais de Tokyo (and around). She is working with Ford Models in Paris, and she's from Russia. I was relieved when she started talking to me in english, and not in french. I realized it's easier for me to give directions to a model in english, for different reasons. The first one is that i feel more vulnerable using another language, and therefore closer to the person I photograph. The second one is that in my hesitations, my mistakes, my silences, my inaccuracy, there is room for interpretation. That room is like a series of gaps that the person I photograph can use or play with; we relate within them, and there is more freedom for both of us. This is why sometimes i wish i could use my own language as a foreigner (just like i found happiness in rediscovering my city after being away for a while); and this is why my english, when I shoot, is probably way worse than what it is in 'real life'.

RF

I just saw the Robert Frank exhibition at the Jeu de Paume, "The Americans". I felt deeply moved by a lot of the images I saw there; I was surprised since it's always been a little difficult for me to connect with b&w street photography. Most of the time I think it is not enough to shoot a weird face in the street with huge buildings in the background. But these were so modern... he photographed mystery instead of just loneliness and misery, atmospheres instead of just faces; he photographed desire and passion for his own country -a country that already looked at the time like 50 different countries. I thought he criticized that country violently but with honesty, from his own human experience of life and the world. Maybe I just loved the intention he put in each shot; he is traveling, and it's obvious that he is part of the adventure he wants / needs to tell. He brings experience to expression, and is even able to bring it alive to others.
It was therefore weird and intense to look at the US through his eyes. For some reason I felt attached to the land, and I admitted it. I thought about my great-grandfather, who went to NYC from France at a young age, to become whatever, to travel, and who left the boat that had just crossed the atlantic wearing all the clothes he had. Funny enough, I feel like I also learnt how to possess less there, and to try more.

MY BROTHER

A few years ago my brother and I decided to go spend some time on the atlantic coast (in france) in the beginning of november. We got there and it was freezing, raining all day. On the second day a storm came, the beach was empty, you could not tell if someone was standing 3 meters away from you... I was very, very reluctant but he made me put on a wetsuit and go swim and run in the middle of that mess. Of course we had fun, and I was never cold; and he said, this is what reminds you what it is to have a body ! I thought: yes he is right.

MATHIEU

Last thursday I photographed Mathieu and I had a very interesting time; he was amazingly patient as I was shooting for one hour and a half, in his place an then outside in the cold. I was supposedly doing him a favor (as he is an actor and needed new shots for his book), but I actually felt privileged to be able to photograph him. Then we went to the library together and I bought "Ma mere" by Georges Bataille (while Mathieu got about 10 books...). For some reason I have been waiting until now to read Bataille. Probably because I was scared to be disappointed, since I was expecting so much from his books -but I've read the novel and I wasn't.
The next day I saw 'Revolutionary Road' by Sam Mendes. There is this sentence in 'Ma mere" that I was thinking about after seeing the movie. And maybe we could think about it everyday?

"Je ne veux rien savoir de ce monde ratissé par ceux dont la patience attend que la mort les éclaire".

YEAR OF THE OX

Chinese new year's day in Bangkok; I was walking close to the river, in Chinatown. An old lady was cleaning around and she came closer to me and since I was standing close to the small temple I thought maybe I was being intrusive, but then she kept doing her thing and she started singing. I loved it and it was working so well with the river around. Then we talked and she said she had seen a lot of french people in Thailand, and that one month there was a long time, good for me; and that she was born in Thailand but that her parents had come from China. And then she said we have a good vegetarian restaurant, you should try it and I said I can't I have to eat at home with my family. I did not dare asking for a picture and I think it's ok like this.

NIGHTS IN PARIS

Who cares if I don't really have my own place for now? I am comfortable enough. Beginning of february, frozen nights, and I ride a bike through a city that I know... this is comfortable enough. I know the streets, I know the language, I know the stores, I know the metro stations and if I get lost, it doesn't even last long enough to be tiring... I need only a few minutes to find my way again. This is Paris, the river, the bridges, Notre-Dame; I am singing out loud in english at night when my ipod plays american songs. Yes, I felt comfortable in San Francisco too after a while; but hey, I've been living for several years here -before.

PROJECT

Tonight I decided I was going to start working on a video project about/with my friends. At only 26, I've known most of them for almost 10 years. Drunk videos at parties aren't enough; iId like us to have something that we could look at in 10 years, and that would say how much we've learnt. I will start working on a series of 5 questions, always the same, something very repetitive.