Aurélien Bouvier : Photography as an outfall
Aurélien Bouvier was born in Normandy to a veterinarian father and a teacher mother. He learned very quickly that autonomy was priceless.
After a complicated school career because the traditional framework of the school was not made for him, he found his way to cinema. He is also fascinated by music and by so many other things as long as they have a link with beauty, that they are alive and that he can always discover something new…
It is certain that routine is not for him! He always needed to test what he didn’t know, to understand, to question himself.
With his training as a sound engineer in the cinema, having made a general course related to image and shooting, he very quickly drifted towards the world of show business especially on the technical side working abroad for most of his projects.
And what about photography in all this?
For Aurélien, photography is basically a way to remember his travels and the strong, happy, sad or enriching moments of these encounters abroad.
Spontaneously he chose black and white, which he finds more personal: “I already have a problem with color and black and white gives me a break. A choice that allows him to focus on the pure form of the image.
He does not like to take pictures of people or faces, preferring to focus on the form, the movement, thus realizing photos, videos, or paintings.
In September 2020, he was contacted by a gallery in Jersey near New York. That was intrigued by one of his photos.
It is at this time that he began to pick up on the game of Instagram and hashtags.
Then he continued to take pictures more freely, got some publications, in magazines and an award last year for the magazine 256 photos.
He created “Colorpissedmeoff” an idea behind which he does not use colors that for him are visual messages that confuse his purpose. The idea is to focus on the visual form of a moment, a movement or a sensation.
Photography and art are, in general, an outlet for him. By his own admission, he has no real photographic technique, which gives him the impression of being free to do what he wants.
He takes all his images with his iPhone and does very little processing afterwards to present all his spontaneity.
To be continued!
Instagram : @ Colorpissedmeoff
Your first photographic trigger?
Aurélien Bouvier: The photo “Braquage” by Ladj Ly, I was in film school at the time, what a slap!
The man of images who inspires you?
Aurélien Bouvier: Alain Laboile, all his pictures are crazy, spontaneous. I like the fact that he is an artistic concept in himself.
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The image you would have liked to make?
Aurélien Bouvier: We agree that an image is not necessarily a photo? Then I will say “White square on white background” of Kasimir Malevitch. This painting is just crazy, removing as many visual signals as possible and making a painting is genius.
The one that moved you the most?
Aurélien Bouvier:”Napalm Girl” by Nick Ut, always current, cruel truth. I understood that day the power of the image, whether in photo, video or other. As long as people do not see things with their own eyes, it remains a “it seems”.
And the one that made you angry?
Aurélien Bouvier: Not very artistic, but the image of Balkany dancing during the 2020 music festival, freshly released from prison for health reasons, tends to irritate me a little. Here it is, just for fun… 🙁
A key image in your personal pantheon?
Aurélien Bouvier: An image of mine? I’m not very comfortable with this because I hardly feel legitimate showing my pictures. I would say “Splashing Pool”, I like it and it is very personal to me…
Without any budget limit, what would be the work you would dream of acquiring?
Aurélien Bouvier: It would be “Black Flag” by William Forsythe. It’s two robotic arms dancing together with a huge black flag. It’s precise, it’s beautiful, the sound of the flags is wonderful, it’s poetic and chilling at the same time.
According to you, what is the necessary quality to be a good photographer?
Aurélien Bouvier: Spontaneity. I have the impression that many photographers are a bit stuck or put technical or stylistic barriers. For me a photographer takes what he likes at the moment he decides. I don’t have any photographic technique, that leaves me free, I don’t feel stuck in any technical straitjacket, if it doesn’t work in photography, maybe it’s a painting, a video, or a piece of music. The important thing is to say what you want to say, no matter the format.
The secret of the perfect image, if it exists?
Aurélien Bouvier: Photography is spontaneous so it’s impossible to know if the shot is perfect or not… Would it have been better 1 second before or after? The photo is what it is, like all things perfectly imperfect, that’s what makes us like it.
The person you would like to photograph?
Aurélien Bouvier: I don’t like humans in general and even less in photography but I would say Guillaume Sanchez to have a good time.
An essential photo book?
Aurélien Bouvier: Any of Alain Laboile’s.
The camera of your childhood?
Aurélien Bouvier: In general, I had a camera when I went on school trips, the Fuji disposable with 12 exposures and sometimes there were 24 exposures and then it was a feast! Already no classic photos of the places I went to at the time ; and especially, I kept some frames to make photos on the way back .
The one you use today?
Aurélien Bouvier: Iphone 12 Pro, always in the pocket, efficient, fast. I process my photos very quickly for lack of time, when I take one in general it is published in the minute, I like it like that at the moment.
Your favorite drug?
Aurélien Bouvier: Uh… Can everything be said? Travelling definitely, during the Covid I was trembling. It’s not easy to reconcile everything when you’re going away a lot, but damn it’s good.
The best way to disconnect for you?
Aurélien Bouvier: Putting myself in a plane or in my studio…
What is your relationship with the image?
Aurélien Bouvier: I am someone who comes from techno music, I have long denigrated images especially in my studies where photography and video seemed elitist. Music was more accessible financially. When I started to grow up, I understood that art could be a profession, I opened myself to all forms of art and the image appeared… and in the end it is as accessible as music !
What I like about images is that they leave you no choice but to look at them whether you want to or not. A music, a movie you can cut, an image you see it and it stays in a fraction of a second. It’s like an artistic hold-up, you’re not given a choice, a visual flash is put in front of your eyes, then it’s up to you to see what you want to do with it.
Your greatest quality?
Aurélien Bouvier: I think I want to try everything in every field and quickly, I don’t know if it’s really a quality at all.
Your latest folly?
Aurélien Bouvier: I think it’s a VR headset, I wanted to understand what the metaverse is, I understood, and it’s promising.
An image to illustrate a new banknote?
Aurélien Bouvier:”Rage, the Flower thrower” by Banksy.
The job you would not have liked to do?
Aurélien Bouvier: Surgeon and anything related to medicine or something like banker, trader.
Your biggest professional extravagance?
Aurélien Bouvier: Once I made a video, I was swinging a can of paint over a canvas to make a painting. I received a message from someone who wanted to see the painting, so I replied with a new video in which I burned the painting. Simple, effective, what was beautiful in this painting was the movement, the sequence, the path taken to make it, not the result.
What city, country or culture do you dream of discovering?
Aurélien Bouvier: I have never been to South America. I would love to go to Peru and all that. Cape Horn is part of my “to do list” 😉
The place you never get tired of?
Aurélien Bouvier: My place!!! In the countryside, it is top.
Your biggest regret?
Aurélien Bouvier: Maybe I was late to realize the importance of art for me, to exploit it…
Social networks wise, are you rather Instagram, Tik Tok or Snapchat and why?
Aurélien Bouvier: Only Instagram, it is with this network that the photo started for me so I surfed, even if it becomes more and more TikTok this story…
There are other emerging platforms in the metaverse but still a bit early, On the other hand, if the idea that each artist can have a personal gallery in a virtual place is crazy. It will never replace the physical one but for people who are starting out like me, I think it’s great.
Color or B&W ?
Aurélien Bouvier: B&W definitely !!! The choice of Black and White for me is important. Life is in color, we are overwhelmed with colors, ads, lights… Black and white allows you to give your brain a break and focus on the form and the moment. Color adds visual information that I don’t want. I’m not at all saying that there are no beautiful things in color, it’s just not my language.
Daylight or artificial light?
Aurélien Bouvier: It doesn’t matter, it’s the way it comes. I never change the environment, I don’t know what a studio is, or a light projector and any other accessories.
The most photogenic city according to you?
Aurélien Bouvier: Paris of course !!! but I am not objective. Otherwise I would say New York or a big city in Asia like Bangkok or Tokyo.
If God existed, would you ask him to pose for you, or would you opt for a selfie with him?
Aurélien Bouvier: If he existed, I would already have a few questions to understand 2 or 3 things, and then maybe I would take a little selfie to show my mother that she was right.
If I could organize your ideal dinner, who would be the people around the table?
Aurélien Bouvier: Ooh the question is difficult, but in no particular order I would say: Tom Yorke, Aphex twin, Snoop Dog, Yves Klein, Jackson Pollock, Christopher Nolan, Albert Dupontel, Benoit Poelvoorde, Guillaume Sanchez.
The image that represents for you the current state of the world?
Aurélien Bouvier: The last report of the Giec…
What is missing in today’s world?
Aurélien Bouvier: A bit of common sense and benevolence.
If you had to start all over again?
Aurélien Bouvier: All the same, but taking the opposite way each time, just to see what it offers.
