Yesterday I did a special job for a magazine with my partner Rafael (Autofoto) and we delivered one of our analogue Photo Booth at someone's residence in the countryside. Being there made me feel like being on a trip down to Memory Lane. This fashion icon was amongst a unique generation that defined fashion in the 90's.
Before becoming a photographer I was a lab technician in Paris. I wanted to know everything about what is going on in the background of photography. So I passed an exam to enter the prestigious the Gobelins school and got in. I left 2 years later with all my diplomas and ready to embrace my active life. I did one year at Pictorial Service which taught me a wide range of film processing methods. I then got a call from the awesome Imaginoir lab to process the films of my idols. This is where I had the fortune to meet the top photographers. And as I was processing their films I could intimately see who was truly a master. And that master, in fashion photography, was for me Peter Lindbergh and I had the opportunity to help him on a couple of occasion. He was a true gentleman, a simple human being with tons of talent and a love for photography, aesthetics and women's strength. I cannot think of anyone else, and still today, who translated perfectly truth, beauty, simplicity, identity, everlasting creativity and character.
My workmates knew that my aim was to become a photographer. Eventually Peter needed a new assistant and the lab was ready to put me forward. This is a very rare opportunity that very very few people have but I refused it. I knew what would happen if I were to become an elite's assistant and my life would be changed for ever, and not in the way I imagined it. So I declined the offer kindly and decided that I would leave my position after a year and try my luck as a photographer in London. Most people back then thought I was mad, and I am certain that most people would have the same reaction today. Now looking back 20 years later I still know that I made the right decision and that I couldn't be happier. Yesterday's experience reminded me how lucky I was...