How did you become a photographer? Would you define yourself as a one?
I started photography while taking a master’s course in anthropology. I then became interested in images as a tool for reflection on our societies and decided to stop my university studies to join the School of Photography in Arles. I feel that I am first and foremost a photographer before being an artist: this term was allocated to me by the art world, when I first presented my work. I found it hard at the start to present myself as an artist.
What drives you as a photographer?
Since the start, I have used photography to rethink the world. Little by little, I have developed a body of work that attempts to make utopian worlds visually possible. I think certain images still have the ability to feed our imagination with something other than consumerist desires! And in my opinion, these images are even more important today in order to counter the dominant ultra-consumerist ideology which goes against the people.
Do you think there is such a thing as a ‘woman’s gaze’ in photography? Is this something you can relate to?
I have never liked narrow definitions: some men are very feminine, and the opposite is also true! I don’t particularly see a ‘woman’s gaze’ in the work of women photographers that I like! I feel closer to certain ways of seeing things, be they masculine or feminine. To see things through a gender prism goes against what we believe in. I find such narrow definitions quite frightening! Besides, what is a ‘woman’s gaze’?
Has being a woman influenced your work as an artist in any way?
I have not really suffered much from people’s reactions and comments on that front. Nevertheless, women photographers generally sell less than men, and aren’t shown as much! This is why the Jeu de Paume’s choice of artists (which has had international press coverage) has been a real paradigm shift. The museum has made an effort to regularly exhibit women artists.
Do you live off your art?
No, I teach in a school of architecture. But that’s also by choice. I don’t want to have to chase after collectors or museums to sell my work. I’ve also known for a while now that my work isn’t particularly commercial. My photography is ‘social’ which can neither really be seen as art nor under an ‘artistic’ light. Some people say they love my work and respect it, but they can’t live with it. I can understand that.
Which authors have inspired you? Are there any women photographers among them?
Many photographers I admire are not contemporary. It’s very hard to have the necessary hindsight. Of course, there are women photographers, among them Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange and Germaine Krull. There is also Lewis Hine, Paul Strand and especially Walker Evans. But I am not only influenced by photographers. For example, early Italian renaissance paintings have greatly nourished my work. Henri Lefebvre, Dostoyevsky also and, more broadly, everyday life, current events… Everything influences my work!
