He is one of the best wedding photographers on the island but few people know that he used to work as a fashion photographer. He was born in Paris, to a family of intellectuals highly involved in the art scene. "My mother was a photographer, my older brother a classical musician...We always believed that going to museums and art galleries were real treats, we read a lot, took painting classes, my parents were always at the theatre...I think to be an artist, you have to be the product of a certain culture. Either you're from the ghetto, from this centre point of very intense culture and you explode to make something out of that, or you're from a really sophisticated background and you've grown up with cultural institutions." He stopped school at fifteen to enrol at an art decorating school in Paris, and at seventeen became an amateur photographer.
The Man, his Work
"So I basically took my backpack and tried to find work wherever I could. I started out as a news photographer, did that for about ten years. Then I really wanted to get involved in something that I could create, had more freedom to create - that's when I thought fashion was the next step, and came back to Paris. I didn't know anyone. I was an assistant at Vogue Paris for two months, but I was too crazy for travelling, you know? So I took up my backpack again, went to work for Albert Watson (New York), Guy Bourdin..."
He finally decided to settle in Paris. "And that's when you really have to fight. I had no money, no money to pay heating, or to even have a proper portfolio...I was working for Cosmopolitan at the time, doing their still life and beauty shots. I was looking for an interview at one of the advertising agencies of the time - that's how you really make your career, you know? But it's incredibly difficult. They only have a select few who they keep under their portfolios and book to clients. They tell you to call back in two weeks, and then they contact you again - 6 months later! For an interview at 19h30! All my career was like that in Paris. You're in competition with everybody, all the time. But if you persist - if you continue striving for what you want - you get the opportunities. And when they come you cannot be late in taking them."
Suddenly he was working all the time, doing two test shoots a week minimum - and that's when the really big jobs happened. "I worked with Iman, in Malta. I won't forget that day: there were many American girls gossiping. And then suddenly Iman arrives at breakfast, and everybody just stops talking. Of course, she was incredible to work with! These models, they are better than you the photographer, never forget. They just know what to do, and the image is made. They know everything. That's why that a model really needs everything - her presence makes the photo." He worked for Studio Harcourt (amongst, of course, many others), his images were in Paris Match. "I used to work alone most of the time. Each studio atmosphere gives you a new experience, and I never had a regular assistant. It was incredible. You were really paid for doing what you love."
He now leads a much quieter life on the island - though constantly booked for wedding shoots. "It's lovely here - I can go kayaking, I live on the beach - it's a beautiful life. I learn from my son, I learn about youth - children teach you so much. If I had known how enjoyable having children was going to be, I would have had them sooner! I'm still an eternal nomad, though - a cultural nomad. And I do miss my classical music concerts."
xoxo
Alex
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