For Thierry Bouët’s latest series at the Rencontres d’Arles, Affaires Privées (Personal Affairs), the photographer met with people selling items on the Le Bon Coin (a local classifieds website similar to Craigslist), taking pictures of the vendors with their wares and accompanied by short, funny texts inspired by their meeting.
L’Oeil de la Photographie : The series Affaires Privées can be seen as a kind of catalogue of modern man. How did it come about?
Thierry Bouët : I caught a glimpse of something on my colleague Alexis’s computer. It was the facade of a provincial tobacco-bar being sold for connoisseurs. I found the way this highly valuable object was being sold incredibly direct. I went to the Drôme to meet the vendors. The first was getting rid of a deck chair. I saw what was possible and kept going.
LODLP : Is there a particular encounter that took you by surprise?
TB: When I saw there was a yacht for sale, I dreamed of convincing the owner to invite me on board. It worked. Arriving on the platform, I only saw one solution to photography the whole thing, from the opposing bank. On board an unstable little boat, I crossed the canal, rowing against the current. Two vessels sizing each other up.
LODLP : Are you a regular on Le Bon Coin? What fascinates you about these objects and communities?
TB: My interest developed in three phases: worthless objects finding an existence online: glasses for Pastis, deck chairs books. Then surprising objects like planes, yachts and houses. And finally objects that inspire me to take a picture: bars, pools, changing rooms.
LODLP : Tell us about the layout of the exhibition in Arles.
TB: At first when I saw the linear style of the layout, I wasn’t satisfied. Then Sam Stourdzé came and we divided the works into themes and series in the story. Each panel has its own atmosphere.
LODLP : You’ve been working with Picto photo labs for a long time. What is your relationship like with your printer?
TB: My printer at Picto, Jean-Christophe Roux, does a first selection with a few basic corrections. We take almost all of them and look for imperceptible zones of color and contrast. Jean-Christophe is extremely careful and sometimes comes up with his own solutions. I always wonder how we understand each other. Our language is unintelligible.
EXHIBITION
In part of Rencontres d’Arles
Thierry Bouët, Affaires privées
From July 6th to September 20th, 2015
Grande Halle
Parc des Ateliers
13200 Arles
France
Free Entrance
http://www.thierrybouet.com
http://www.rencontres-arles.com
Prints made by Picto Lab.
BOOK
Affaires privées
Thierry Bouët,
Editions Xavier Barral
Format : 17 x 24 cm
128 pages
60 color photographs
25€
http://exb.fr
EVENTS
• Wednesday, July 8th, 12.30pm
Booksigning with Thierry Bouët
COSMOS Arles Books
Magasin électrique, parc des Ateliers
• Wednesday, July 9th, 6pm
Booksigning with Thierry Bouët
Cour Fanton
• Saturday, July 11th, 10.30am
Visit of exhibition with Thierry Bouët
Grande Halle, parc des Ateliers
