Editing portrait of Mauricio Clavero Kozlowski

I made the portrait of Odiot’s designer Mauricio Clavero Kozlowski, which was published in the brochure Cristal et Bronze.

Photo: Serge Bouvet

Technical failures as aesthetic resources 

I became myopic with age. What I see is never 100% sharp. When I look at my photos, I have to put on my glasses now.  When I walk around and take off my glasses, everything becomes grainy, imprecise. Now I can’t read the names of subway stations without glasses. Shit…. I wish my eyes could not grow old… When the surgeon has a shaking hand, when the pianist becomes deaf, when the photographer becomes myopic, we have the same apprehension about time that passes.  Most of my pictures are very clean. They skillful camera hides my optical imperfections. So I decided to respect these defects and convert them into qualities. Let’s look at our eye; he will tell us that for the picture, the details fade away. But what am I going to do if I am a wise photographer? Do I have to sacrifice the details?

The sacrifice of details

We often refrain from using the term “fuzzy”, whose connotation in photography is too negative. We prefer to talk about the sacrifice of details. The sacrifice of details is aimed primarily at allowing representation to correspond to the human vision. In impressionist and pointillist painting, the sacrifice of details blends in with the notion of blur and small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image, because both share the same mimetic value, aiming to bring together the representation of reality and human vision. The painters Paul Signac, Henri-Edmond Cross or Maximilien Luce knew that human vision was imperfect.

Reproducing reality is impossible, so maybe I can suggest it.

Reproducing reality is impossible, so maybe I can suggest it. Here are some examples of photos taken in Udaipur. It is a peaceful city that I especially appreciate in the morning, at dawn. If you come to Udaipur, you will feel like you are travelling in time. So I tried to make old photos with visual imperfections. It’s a little fuzzy, there’s noise and the contrast is low. But when you print photos, the magic of visual suggestion works. I think printed photos have a timeless charm.

In October 2017, the magazine National Magazine France featured my photo of the Sikh and the two shadows.

The National Geographic France organized a contest around “shadows” and featured three photographers on printed magazine. My photography was among these. This photo had already been published by the American National Geographic in February 2016. Thank you National Geographic!