François Fontaine : “My reminiscence is photographic”.
His first “actual” {photograph} was a picture of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam in October 1991. He was simply 23 years previous, seeking absolutely the, and making his first main journey to Asia within the footsteps of his father, a naval officer. On his return to Paris, upon discovering this picture, he was sure that pictures would accompany him from then on and be the important witness to his life.
A health care provider in artwork historical past, exhibition curator and journal editor, François Fontaine’s work explores the theme of reminiscence, each particular person and collective. His sources of inspiration are artwork, literature and cinema. His pictures are timeless. For him, they’re the silent witnesses of want and concern, in brief, the mirror of our society.
He first settled in Madrid (from 1998 to 2002), the place he established a very skilled strategy to pictures.
Impressed by his encounters and travels, François Fontaine likes to transpose the fact of what’s perceived right into a universe dominated by goals and poetry.
In 2012, Editions de l’Oeil revealed “Silenzio!”, a photographic essay on the world of cinema.
Between 2005 and 2008, he produced pictures that gave rise to Rêves d’Orient, his second ebook, which contains three works: “Transsiberian”, “Misplaced in China” and “Japanese Whispers”. A number of books adopted: “Icones”(2018), “Pulsions”(2021).
Often exhibited in quite a few galleries and museums in France and overseas, he has additionally been shortlisted for the distinguished Leica Oskar Barnack and Niépce awards. His work can also be a part of bigger collections.
Instagram: francoisfontaine.pictures
Web site: www.francoisfontaine.com
Member of Agence VU
What was your first photographic set off?
François Fontaine: The unknown.
The person or girl who conjures up you?
François Fontaine: The Buddha.
The picture you’d have appreciated to have made?
François Fontaine: Anita Ekberg bathing within the Trevi Fountain (Federico Fellini’s La dolce vita).
The one which moved you probably the most?
François Fontaine: Antoine Doisnel’s digicam gaze (Jean-Pierre Léaud in François Truffaut’s Les Quatre Cents coups).
The one which made you most offended?
François Fontaine: The destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan.
The one you remorse not having made?
François Fontaine: The portrait of Marguerite Duras in Indochina.
A key picture in your private pantheon?
François Fontaine: The duvet of The Blue Lotus (Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin).
A photographic reminiscence out of your childhood?
François Fontaine: My father in a pilot’s uniform.
What picture do you will have of your self?
François Fontaine: A blurred picture.
With no price range restrict, which murals would you dream of buying?
François Fontaine: Claude Monet’s Water Lilies.
In your opinion, what’s the one high quality wanted to be an excellent photographer?
François Fontaine: Curiosity.
What, if any, is the key to the proper picture?
François Fontaine: Dazzlement.
Who would you wish to {photograph}?
François Fontaine: Corto Maltese.
Essential photograph ebook?
François Fontaine: Sightwalk by Gueorgui Pinkhassov (Phaidon).
Your childhood digicam?
François Fontaine: My reminiscence.
The one you utilize in the present day?
François Fontaine: A Leica.
Your favourite drug?
François Fontaine: Journey.
What’s one of the simplest ways so that you can disconnect?
François Fontaine: Considering the moon and stars.
What’s your relationship with pictures?
François Fontaine: Sensory.
What’s your biggest high quality?
François Fontaine: Loyalty.
Your newest folly?
François Fontaine: Crossing the Pamir.
A picture as an example a brand new banknote?
François Fontaine: The Lilac Fairy (Delphine Seyrig in Jacques Demy’s Peau d’Âne).
In the event you hadn’t grow to be a photographer?
François Fontaine: Explorer.
Your biggest skilled extravagance?
François Fontaine: It’s work in progress.
What do you see because the bridges between pictures and design?
François Fontaine: The steadiness of varieties, the concord of colours.
Which metropolis, nation or tradition do you dream of discovering?
François Fontaine: Atlantis.
The place you by no means tire of?
François Fontaine: Île de Noirmoutier, the island of my childhood.
Your largest remorse?
François Fontaine: The absence of wings.
When it comes to social networks, do you like Instagram, Fb, Tik Tok or Tweeter?
François Fontaine: I keep away from them.
Colour or B&W?
François Fontaine: Colorissimo!
Daylight or synthetic gentle?
François Fontaine: It relies on my inspiration.
What do you think about to be probably the most photogenic metropolis?
François Fontaine: Shambhala.
If God existed, would you ask him to pose for you, or would you go for a selfie with him?
François Fontaine: Not possible, there’d be an excessive amount of gentle!
If I may manage your ultimate banquet, who would sit on the desk?
François Fontaine: The Depend of Monte Cristo.
The picture that represents the present state of the world for you?
François Fontaine: A wilted flower.
What’s lacking in in the present day’s world?
François Fontaine: Thriller.
In the event you needed to begin yet again?
François Fontaine: I’d change period.
Any remaining phrase?
François Fontaine: Silenzio!
