Sunday, February 10, 2008

Artist Focus: Emmanuelle Tricoire



I know, I know.. I've been slacking. But I know at least some of you can feel me on being too busy for myself. Or not having my own space, working too much, etc. Please check out Emma's work, if you haven't seen it already. This is a name that we will definitely be hearing more of.

How has 2008 treating you so far? Any upcoming projects you have been working on?

So far so good, Im working on editing my photos of nyc, Im going to a lot of exhibitions, galleries, looking at books, to see what's going on nowadays and to stay in a artistic state of mind. I don't take a lot of pictures tho.

Many of us believe that we can see one's full story in just a photograph of them; do you see this in people as your working with them?

That's true, photographs are taken to tell stories, some are made up, some are just the truth. But photographers are in control, they can say whatever they want to say. As for me, I just "feel" people, I don't know about their lives, I meet them and I capture what I feel, I don't "scan" them, I'm so bad at doing it, but I take what they want to give me and what I feel it is true. Their faces are talking for them.

What is it like photographing people in different cities around the world?

The more I meet all kind of people, the more I realize that they all have the same "issues". Even if they don't have the same way of life, they are like me and at the same time so much different, this is my food. I just love taking pictures of people from different cities.

A lot of your work seems to be inspired by street cultures like hip hop, fashion, skating, etc. Are these passions of yours besides photography?

Yes, when I arrived in Paris in 1992 I grew up in a skate neighborhood in Paris called Bastille. My friends were listening to hiphop, but I was grunge. I also loved graffiti (so much that when I was 10 my art teacher asked us to decorate a drawing of a subway car and I did tags on it and got suspended, I was wondering why I never did it in real life...) , skating and hanging out in the streets. I used to buy female magazines instead of candies as well, and when I was 9, I said to my parents that I wanted to be a fashion photographer. I took hip hop dance classes for 6 years after playing guitar bass...So yes, music, dance, hiphop, skating, graffiti are my real passions.

Who would you really like to work with and have not had the chance to yet?

Well, there are a lot of artists I would love to photograph, I would love to meet Mos Def since my nickname comes after his song, music artists as such Beth Gibson, Tori Amos , Bjork or Nas... But also fashion designers and models as such Jean-Paul Gaultier, Omahyra or Agyness Deyn. Directors and photographers like Tarantino, Larry Clark, Spike Lee...I have a never-ending list.

You definetely make networking look easy. Do you think linking with so many different people is crutial to the career of an artist?

really?! I don't really notice it if people don't make me think about it. Sometime they are like "are you sure you are 24?", or when somebody is telling me about someone else, I'm like "ah yes I know him, met him...blahblah" which could be annoying! I don't know, I guess it is natural and hopefully! As a photographer, you have to be permanently in contact with others. And you must know that in this kind of career, you have to meet the good person at the right moment...

Thanks again for taking the time to chat. Do you have any last words for aspiring photographers or artists?

Thank you! I would say...learn the bases, learn photography history and art history, look what's going on, watch movies and documentaries, and don't be narrow-minded. But this is my only advice I would give, the rest is up to you.

www.emmanuelletricoire.com
www.myspace.com/mfb4life
newyorkfuckincity.blogspot.com
mfb4life.blogspot.com

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