Coulisses

(Backstage) 
2003-2008

For 5 years starting in 2003, twice a year for the Marie Claire magazine I photographed the backstage of the haute couture shows.
I tame these - to me - totally foreign places. I discover the world of fashion and the irrational rules of backstage. I earn my place behind the curtains several hours before the start of the show; keeping my place there is a challenge: being accepted behind the scene is never a given and often requires kafkaesque negotiations.
The show starts, all the photographers are concentrated in the same place. I am in a trance. I can’t stop photographing, almost compulsively. Everyone runs, yells. People are shoving. When it all stops, I’m soaked, exhausted, I’ve taken over 350 pictures.
The setting is the same each year, only the clothes change. So I experiment with new approaches, I imagine new pictures. I use a flash, black and white, colour, movement, close-ups, with always the imperative of showing the clothes.
I don’t photograph slices of life, I avoid anecdote. I speak little and don’t connect. For me the models are unreal.

Fullscreen Thumbnails Infos
  • Christian Lacroix 2008
  • Givenchy automne/hiver 2003
  • Jean Paul Gaultier automne / hiver 2003
  • Courrèges printemps/été 2002
  • Dior automne/hiver 2003
  • Jean Paul Gaultier Automne/hiver 2003
  • Jean Paul Gaultier automne/hiver 2003
  • Valentino printemps/été 2008
  • Dior automne/hiver 2004
  • Armani / printemps/été 2006
  • Dior automne/hiver 2004
  • Armani Privé automne/hiver 2008
  • Chanel printemps/été 2004
  • Anne Valérie Hash printemps/été 2008
  • Dior printemps/été 2003
  • Fred Sathal printemps/été 2002
  • Adeline André printemps/été 2005
  • Dior printemps/été 2005
  • Frank Sorbier printemps/été 2008
  • Christian Lacroix printemps/été 2007