In 2018, the producer of the label ZRP, Isabelle Chapis, contacted me to direct a series of 2-hour shoots of the musician James Eleganz on the banks of the Seine. Some of the portraits were chosen for the album cover of the ‘The Only One’. Another portraits were chosen for the promotion.

Anecdote. We had finished the shooting. With Isabelle and James, we had decided to have breakfast in a very cosy Parisian café. After eating some croissants, I offered to take some more pictures here. At first, James wore his hat. I asked him to put it on his left side and put his hand on his knee. I like this portrait very much. It reminds me of a painting painted in chiaroscuro. This picture has been published in some newspapers and magazines like Rolling Stone Magazine or the newspaper Ouest-france.

I learned that it was James’s wife who had chosen this photo for the album cover. Isabelle, the producer of the ZRP label, left me a message: “We’ve chosen this picture for the album to be called ‘The Only One’.”

I was honored by the choice of the production team and the musician James Eleganz who chose one of my portraits for the album cover. James Eleganz released his album The Only One in December 2019. The songs were recorded in the Californian desert at Rancho de la Luna Studios, in the company of legendary rock figures, Toby Dammit, keyboardist of the Bad Seeds, and longtime drummer of Iggy Pop, and Mike Watt, founder of the Minutemen and bassist of the Stooges.

I had a wide angle. It was James’s idea to lean forward, determining an exaggerated but very rock and roll perspective.

In April 2019, my work for the album of the rock star James Eleganz was presented on French television, France 2.

Serge BOUVET

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Album cover and visual promotion for James Eleganz

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Exhibition at Ekaterinbourg