Search for content, post, videos

BODY, Bodybuilding behind the scenes

Preview

I never liked mirrors and I had never been at ease with my own body. To beat the obesity that had hounded me since childhood, I decided, at the age of 19  and since I weighed 125 kg, to take myself in hand and went through the doors of a gym.

In just 10 months I had lost half of my own weight. Then I decided to go further and  discovered the world of bodybuilding. A world apart with its rules, its principles, its mantras, its competitions and its stars who make the covers of the specialised magazines. So, I learnt the training methods and familiarised myself with different nutrition programmes.

After a lot of sacrifice and effort, I succeeded in getting on stage in a bodybuilding competition. My family and friends didn’t recognise me. I was proud of myself for the first time, and  could achieve what I really wanted: the recognition of others.

10 years later, long after I had left this world behind, my brother who was 12 years younger than me, decided to follow in my footsteps with the objective of surpassing me. Despite our complex relationship, he asked me to be at his side backstage for his first competition. I then bought my first camera.

That was how I learnt photography: accompanying my brother to the competitions, from one backstage to another, diving back in to the world of the gym, like a photojournalist, without knowing how.

For the first few years, I was interested in the amateur level and in European competitions. The work led me as far as the United States, backstage at the Arnold Classic in Columbus (Ohio), the discipline’s most prestigious event, organised by Arnold Schwarzenegger, himself a former bodybuilder and still bodybuilding’s most influential personality.

In 2015, I produced BODY (Brother’s Body), a documentary film about my relationship with my brother who had decided he wanted to become a professional bodybuilder and dreamt of the America that I had photographed.

When I made my first steps into the cultural and intellectual worlds, I often hid my past as a former bodybuilder. Yet, it was the connection with this discipline that allowed me to push myself, to establish myself and to become the photographer and producer I am today.

David Nicolas Parel

David Nicolas Parel is a French-Swiss photographer and director, born in Annecy in 1979, he lives and works in Geneva.

BODY, Bodybuilding / Behind the scenes
Until 21st January 2017
Le 247
247 Rue Marcadet
75018 Paris
France
http://www.le247.fr/

Create an account or log in to read more and see all pictures.

Install WebApp on iPhone
Install WebApp on Android