Do you want some technique tips, some interviews from yours truly, and any other articles that don’t fit the rest? It’s here, come and check it out!

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Histoires Urbaines, the opening!

It was awesome! I must admit that I got a bit afraid. We found out with the organizers from the French Institute (Institut Français) from Cluj-Napoca that on June 28th, the very same day of the opening of my Histoire Urbaines exhibition, at the same time, was happening the opening of the World Press Photo 2018 exhibition, a few under meters down the road! Talk about  competition… It was anyhow too late to change the date of the opening, therefore we went for it hoping that not only my friends will show up 🙂

And far from that, about 150 persons came the first evening. For a small scale exhibition on a niche genre with such a competition, it really was an accomplishment!

The place in itself, a cave with visible stones and bricks of the walls, the tubes, gave a great urban feeling, that went very well with my photos. I couldn’t have wished for a better place. The mood was set, all these people came and, I hope, had a good time.

It was a very interesting social experiment for me, to have my own exhibition: meeting all these people interested in my work just never happened before. And I had so much fun talking with them about my photography, how I see things, how I interpret my photos and how it compares to their interpretation.

I also had quite a revelation the day before while setting up everything. While I document what’s happening around me in the city, in a way I document myself too. For each and everyone of the 31 photos that were showcased I could tell when it was taken, what was the challenge, how I found the spot, and even more importantly, what was happening with myself, my mood, my life, at this very moment. Even for shots taken years ago. It is something I’ve never thought about before, but for sure it just really motivates me to continue photographing the life around me further more!

I’d like to thank Xavier Leroux, director of the French Institute of Cluj-Napoca for his warm welcome and for hosting the exhibition, Raluca Mateiu and her team for the great organization, and Robert Fejer for the photos of the evening. And, of course, all the people that came and made this opening the greatest one I could have hoped for!

Did you go to the exhibition? Did you like it? Tell me more in the comments below!

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A few fine art prints…

Fine art print - The Kiss

The Kiss. Get a print.

I was lucky enough to have a few orders from new and returning customers for fine art prints. I’m a big advocate of prints as it is for me the ultimate way to enjoy a photo. Some even say that a photo doesn’t even exist before it is printed! In this digital age this are not so black or white, but I do agree that a digital representation of a photo doesn’t do it justice.

All those photos are available on my shop. They are available in 3 default sizes, 45×30 cm 60×45 cm and 90×60 cm, printed on high quality paper, but any size or support is possible! Contact me to get a quote for any special order, for any of my photos, be on this site or on Instagram.

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2017 retrospective

One of the most important aspects of my “real life” work (aka the one that brings food to the table) is the retrospective: an objective view on what went well, what went wrong, and how to improve. So, let’s do this!

What went well

2017 started pretty strongly. The 2 books I was published in got released, WeStreet 2016 and the Street Photographer Book vol. 2. I also won the 2nd place in the Sony World Photography Awards 2017. Not bad for a start!

I also found the Heavy Machinery complex that fulfilled my thirst for urbex, and that also started the Ghost project.

Last but not least, a short trip to Portugal gave me a few good shots, like the Initiation well series.

It all happened during the first months of 2017. But then…

What went wrong

2017 has been a very busy year on a personal side. Change of job, change of country (going back home in France!), buying a house, living almost as a camper for a few months between 2 moves… it definitely has affected my craft. From summer until now I must say I haven’t done much. It’s a way to say I haven’t done almost anything 🙂 Winter is definitely not a great season for me, I lose all my inspiration. I also had my mind occupied with a lot of stuffs that made photography go back a bit on a lower level during the last months.

And as a result, it has also hurt quite a lot my online presence. My blogging rate is now in limbo. Which is very, very bad, and has killed all the efforts I’ve put on. My Instagram following has risen a bit, but not as much as expected I must say. Well, this is what happened when you can’t post daily! On Facebook, meh, stagnation. Anyhow, Facebook is kind of dead on the photo side. Groups are now going crazy (in the bad way), the Pages are nowhere to be seen, it’s pretty much about occupying the place. The only surprise came from Twitter, where my following has grown a bit, without any effort.

So, to resume what went wrong this year: I’ve been out to shoot much less than what I should have, and whenever I was out I was not very productive.

At least, this period gave me the time to think a bit more on what to focus on in 2018…

How to improve

Maybe the most interesting part of any retrospective: how to improve.

Being back in France close to Paris has a big advantage: there are a LOT of great photography exhibitions over there! I went to several expos, by Sebastião Salgado or the World Press Photo 2017 expo, and it struck me that reportage type photography is something that I would love to do. Not telling a potential story with an artsy photo like I’ve done until now. Telling a real story. I really think this is the path I want to follow this year, in the next years. I don’t have yet the key to realize this, but I fell this is what I have to do. Locally at first, maybe telling the story of interesting people around me, and then I’ll try to expend my range.

If you guys have any suggestions, please comment !

Conclusion

That was my short retrospective of 2017. A frustrating year, photography wise, where I feel I’ve taken a step back. And you, dear reader, how was your year?

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Fine art prints: now larger and more affordable!

Good news for you fine art lovers! Thanks to a new partnership I have changed the range of available prints as follow:

  • Larger prints: having received only orders for 30×45 cm or larger prints (except one), I have taken out the smaller format, 20×30 cm, from the catalogue. But it remains available, as is any custom size, on special order. On the larger sizes I have introduced 60×90 cm prints.
  • Lower prices: the big deal of this new partnership is to provide lower prices for my fine art prints! I want you to be able to display my photos on your wall, and for that it is important to have a fair price.
  • More options: Do you prefer dibond instead of fine art paper? A larger, or smaller format, maybe with a different ratio? Everything is now possible, just contact me and we’ll find a soluton.
  • Tax reduction for companies: buying pieces of art for displaying in your company may positively affect your taxes by including a partial or full price of the pieces as a tax reduction.

See all my fine art prints.

Read more

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Exhibition – StreetLine by OnSPOT

OnSpot - Street Line - Bucharest Photo Week

Just a short notice for the people passing by Bucharest this week. I will be part of the exhibition StreetLine organized by the OnSPOT photography group during the Bucharest photo week! It’s the second year in a row that I am part of this exhibition, it’s always a great pleasure.

This year’s StreetLine theme focuses on the lines and the geometry of the streets, which is a you know one of my main interests in urban photography!

More info about the exhibition behind this link. The exhibition start on the 13th of September, until the 18th. The Bucharest Photo Week starts today.

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