Frozen in Time

“My work consists in capturing moments as fragile as a carefree childhood, moments that are seized unexpectedly. I work on a photographic reality aimed at becoming a poetic fiction that favours the emergence of new dream landscapes. To achieve this, I work on the depth of field, the blur effect, in colour or in black and white, the grain of the photo, the backlighting, and always with the 28mm fixed focal length of my Leica. What I'm looking for is escape, lack of control, fragility, the sensitivity and spontaneity of childhood, and the overall freedom of life.

This particular image was taken in August 2021 when I returned from Corsica on a ferry. Shooting at night was a bit tricky because, even with a wide aperture, I only had a shutter speed of 1/15s, hence the slight blur (which doesn't bother me). I've learnt to move away from sharpness, which can be the first thing you may think about when you're photographing. By chance, the only light on that evening came from our cabin — with my youngest daughter at the window. I'm happy that this image will be part of my photo book called Les cheveux longs (Long hair), which is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2023.

I bought a Leica Q in 2020. It's not heavy and therefore easy to carry around with me. The pictures I took with this camera made me re-discover the art of photography. Full format, 28mm fixed focal length and 1.7 aperture… a marvel!”