paris is dead – bap-tepr-ism

FROM PARIS IS DEAD.COM

EXCLUSIVE MIXTAPE BY TEPR BELOW.

Tanguy Destable aka TEPR in “frost bite” Wool parka and pants by Maison Martin Marigiela 
worn over white cotton djellaba; stylist’s own.

Paris does not always welcome you with open arms, as longtime Yelle member TEPR realized. Having more or less bypassed Paris on the Yelle path to global acclaim didn’t mean TEPR, aka Tanguy Destable, could just arrive and make the city his own.

Where better for his immersion in the flow of the city? Where better for his rebirth? Take a leap of faith, close your eyes,
and immerse yourself. Welcome to your Paris baptism.

Fontaine des Innocents, details.

Tanguy Destable aka TEPR in white choir boy shirt – vintage Jean Paul Gaultier.

Did you choose Paris or did Paris choose you ?

Tanguy Destable aka TEPR: I hesitated about coming to Paris for a long time, because I took pride in being able to pursue my musical projects and do a world tour while still being based in Brittany, especially when I was with Yelle and we all lived in Saint-Brieuc five years ago. They’ve stayed there, in fact. It was cool to have played Coachella and done four world tours, and yet still reside in Saint-Brieuc.

Then I got called to Paris, like a lot of people.

After six months, the whole thing was decided. Straight away, you meet so many more people for work, and you get more chances to play, and so I stayed here.

Left: Tanguy Destable aka TEPR in Maison Martin Margiela “frost bite” Wool parka. Right: Fontaine des Innocents detail.

Do you feel as creatively free in Paris as you did when you were back in Brittany ? 

In Brittany, there wasn’t the same pressure. I had my large studio where I worked, and I was the only person doing what I was doing for miles around. I wasn’t permanently hooked on to Facebook. I think my time in Brittany was honest work, but maybe less productive.

I had a hard time when I first came to Paris. That lasted three years, then all of a sudden, my music moved towards something really different. I could feel new trends, and they had too much of an impact on what I was doing; I just wanted to make people happy. Fortunately, I had people around me, managers and friends, who said no, don’t release that, it’s not you.

I had to go through that whole “big city, bright lights” stage

when I was just like, “Wow, I’ve gotta do something offbeat! Wow, I’ve gotta get more hardcore! Wow, I’ve gotta do some tropical beats, they’re fun!” Now I’m over that, but I had to go through it.

Tanguy Destable aka TEPR in the Fontaine des Innocents, in white choir boy shirt: vintage Jean Paul Gaultier.

Finish the sentence : ‘A Parisian is…’

For me, a Parisian is ideally somebody who knows the geography of Paris really well, someone born here, someone who has schlepped through all the different areas. That’s the ideal. I don’t feel Parisian, I’m a Breton. If you were to speak to me about my area in Brittany, I’d know every little village. On a more clichéd level, a Parisian is someone with an idle streak, who knows to stop at the right bistro and makes the most of the sunshine. It’s someone who’s in search of a cool proposition in general: parties, bars, restaurants, and more.

How do you become a Parisian ?

I think you become Parisian from the time that you’ve had a few sleepless nights, and at five or six in the morning, you know exactly where to go and get a steak, and which bits of Paris to go to for the best café au lait, croissant, or baguette.

You become Parisian when you’ve sped up your way of doing things, whether that be walking or eating. People here do everything a bit more quickly, I think. You become Parisian when you can put up with the metro without it irritating you, when you manage to forget the traffic, when you manage to forget the constant scowl people have here, essentially when you can ignore all that kind of stuff.

Left: Paris insignia. Right: Insignia of Morlaix, Tanguy's native city, with a creative motto - "S'ils te mordent, Mords-les."

Parisians are always characterised as cold;

they aren’t going to stop in the street to help out a tourist struggling with a map. I try to fight against that all the time.

Do you imagine dying a Parisian ?

Yes and no. Often, I think I won’t. I can’t imagine getting old in a city. I think your whole being hardens, and you become kind of nasty. I always imagine myself back ending up in the countryside in my native Brittany.

At the same time, I think to myself, when you’re seventy and in Britanny all alone and doing everything—your garden and all of that—yourself, and you need to take the car if you want to go anywhere… It’s then that I think about Paris. The other day I saw this old grandma having the best time. She was out, taking the metro, seeing all the exhibitions, going to all the stores…
In fact, I think growing old or dying in Paris wouldn’t be so bad.

Tanguy Destable aka TEPR in the Fontaine des Innocents.

Where do you see Paris in five years ?

I hope Anne Hidalgo [the mayor of Paris] is going to succeed in making Paris a bit greener. I think it’s insane [that Paris is the way it is] when I look at somewhere like New York, with the High Line, and Chelsea… I don’t dream of living in New York, though. Paris will always be the most beautiful city in the world for me. I’d like more parks, and bigger parks, and less crap like the café they’ve built in Place de la République, because it’s going to age so badly.

Paris in five years? No idea. But Paris in ten or twenty years… I think we will all still be packed into the streets, with too many cars, but there we go: that’s also what means Paris is always buzzing.

Where is the center of Paris ?

I believe the suburbs are the future of Paris.

The rough areas within Paris have all been gentrified, and now that’s starting with the suburbs: Pantin, La Villette, Montreuil, they’re all becoming beautiful. Everyone’s buying their own little place…

Tanguy Destable aka TEPR in the Fontaine des Innocents.

Is Paris dead ?

No, Paris is not dead. Though there are things that do Paris no favours, especially the price of clubs here. Not just the entry either, the service in the club kills the night. It’s 2 or 3 euros too much for what it is. For almost a year now that I’ve really slowed down on clubbing, because after a while it just started to piss me off. You go to the bar, order four things so you don’t have to go back, then you get home that night, and realise you’ve spent 150 euros just to be with your mates. As a rule, culture isn’t expensive in Paris, going to the Pompidou is free.

Educating yourself isn’t expensive, but going out really is.

Latest projects ?

I’m releasing an EP in April 2015 under my “TEPR” moniker, then an album will follow. I’m working on my live act, which will have real scenography.  I’m still navigating between electronica, dance and pop music, with a “technoïde” base.  This foundation allows me to ad on many references from one track to the next, whether it’s tribal, ghetto or R&B. Club music is about quoting, in permanent movement.

Tanguy Destable aka TEPR in the Fontaine des Innocents, getting his Paris baptism.

PARIS IS DEAD EXCLUSIVE MIXTAPE BY TEPR
 

TEPR website

paris is dead – wanda bloody nylon

FROM PARIS IS DEAD.COM

Model: Lida Fox @ Next Models.

Peter, a quiet German perfectionist who won a top prize at the 2007 Hyères Fashion Festival. Johanna, an Algerian-raised, French-Polish, blond style tornado who never goes unnoticed. Yin and Yang.
The icy beauty of Peter, the carefree energy of Johanna – Wanda inherits the best traits of her two progenitors.

Johanna Senyk and Peter Hornstein, designers of Wanda Nylon, both wearing Wanda Nylon.

Unlikely as their collection specialized in synthetic outerwear might be, it has caught the eye of the fashion world, quickly positioning Wanda as one of Paris’ exciting, young, native brands.  Functional, resistant, sexy, playful, modern, a touch retro is the rare mix which they have pulled off.

To give it life (or death, depending on how you see it), dancer and model Lida Fox embodies a woman determined to prove Wanda Nylon clothes are not just waterproof, but also blood-proof.

Parka - Wanda Nylon.

Did you choose Paris or did Paris choose you?

Johanna Sennyk : I chose Paris. Well, it’s the biggest city in France and seeing as I didn’t know how to speak any other languages… [Laughs.] I decided on Paris at the age of seventeen, I was determined to move there and start a new life. I was in Tours—properly provincial!—but I grew up in Algeria as a young Polish girl with dual nationality.

Did Paris disappoint you?

JS: Not at all! The only thing that disappointed me was that I thought that I was going to lose myself here, that it was going to be bigger. I was sort of under that provincial impression that it was going to be a completely impersonal city, and that when you walk around you’d be completely free, you’d bump into nobody you knew. At last, I’ve realized that it’s quite the opposite: it’s so small, and there’s less freedom than I hoped for, less anonymity. It’s definitely less free than the image I had of it when I was young.

Peter, what about you? Did you choose Paris or did Paris choose you?

Peter Hornstein: I chose Paris five years ago… [Long pause.] For work it’s amazing. But the private side of life isn’t much fun. That’s changing though…

The Stimuleye: How does somebody become a Parisian? How did you become a Parisian? 

JS: Well first, to be Parisian, you need to have your papers, and that’s so complicated! You need parents, guarantors, a job—or to be good at Photoshop! [Laughs.] Sorry to be talking about all that, but when eight out of the ten people in the office are having legal problems becoming Parisian… I’m really angry about it.

PH: You have to be very speedy. And you have to eat very little!

JS: What? If that’s Parisian for you, then we’ve got totally different ideas!

Wide-brim hat; sleeveless top; mid-calf skirt: Wanda Nylon.

PH: [Laughs.] No, you do have to adapt quite quickly though, it’s a very speedy town—which is a really positive thing about Paris.

JS: Really? I feel as if nothing’s moving…

PH: True. In general, nothing’s moving, but for the physical side of things, you need to be speedy.

JS: I have the impression that if you were to come back in five years, you’d see the same people in the same groups who would tell you the same stories. Here, I know I’m going to bump into such-and-such, with so-and-so, et cetera. Nothing’s moving.

I dreamed Paris was a certain way, and was consequently disappointed. Maybe it would be the same if I moved to New York, and found a microcosm of exactly the same milieu I’m in now. But I don’t think all this would be the case in London, for example, because it’s so much more expansive, sprawling, and heterogeneous. People are less tightly connected. Or so I think!

PH: That’s because there’s a youth culture [in London.]

In Paris you have no youth culture: it doesn’t exist. Youth is dead. They’re behaving like old people.

JS: But isn’t that just because we’re a little too old for it? If we were going out in that scene, there would be young rock or punk movements, and parties with loads of alternative stuff that we just don’t have any idea about.

PH: No, because I know the scene, and there’s nothing, really nothing. For the size of Paris, there’s nothing.  On a business and administrative level, then yes, Paris is at the center of the world [from a fashion perspective], but on a creative level? No. It is a meeting point, though. It always has been, and it still is.

JS: [Hesitates.] It’s true that when you want to go out somewhere other than a fashion party, to dance, with a decent sound system, good music, a bottle of water, and to sweat and just lose it, you can’t.

Where do you think the creative center is?

PH: Well, preferably, or logically, in places that aren’t very beautiful, and which therefore trigger people to want to change things.

JS: But there are lots of things happening outside of our circles. Isn’t it maybe like that outside of our milieu?

PH: No I don’t think so.
Creativity comes from something you want to rebel against.

See -through trench coat - Wanda Nylon. Black bra and panty: Falke.

So is Paris too pretty?

JS: I don’t think anything can be “too pretty.” Nobody likes the same things, and nobody does things in the same way. At the minute, there’s nothing truly dazzling around.

PH: It would be too pretty if it were clean, maybe… But then it would be kitsch.

JS: Like some kind of Playmobil village! [Laughs.]

Where do you see Paris in five years?

JS: Very few things are going to change. I’d love to see more green space I’d be happy if we could sit on the grass at last. When you look at the British, their way of life, of sharing, and making the most of what they’ve got, and you compare it with the French and their grass that you can look at but not sit on, it reveals a lot about the different cultural mentalities. I’m all about l’art de vivre, the art of everyday life, and for me, the French art de vivre is exactly that liberty: to lie down, have a picnic, and relax on a patch of grass.

Do you imagine dying a Parisian?

JS: Yes! I’m a real parisienne! But then again I don’t know… I always dreamed of spending my last days living off a small vegetable garden and needing nothing else—living self-sufficiently, really. I doubt that’s going to happen, though, if I’m totally honest! I do think that by choosing to come to Paris, to move here, that you’re immediately more Parisian than those that have always lived here, who haven’t made the choice to be here. So yes, I’m definitely a Parisian.

PH: No.

Hat; see-through jacket ; sleeveless top and shorts - Wanda Nylon.

What would you wear to Paris’s funeral?

JS: [Gasps.]

I’d wear something extraordinarily tragic.

I’d trawl through history, the history of Paris as the fashion capital of the world, of everything that’s happened here, above all at the start of the [twentieth] century. I’d wear something lace, exquisitely made, in black, something gigantic and tragic—nothing understated. Something without a corset for sure, but I’d be looking for a long time!

But in fact, the question is a lot like “what would you wear to your wedding?” You feel like getting married ten times because you have ten different ideas of what you want in your head, but then you’re told that marriage is for life. So the only thing to do is to get changed five times in the evening—I’d probably do the same at Paris’s funeral.

PH: I don’t go to funerals in general, but for Paris, I’d wear something classic and neutral.

What do you think was the golden age or the youth of Paris? Has there been a golden age?

JS: Has there been a golden age? I don’t know. If we start thinking like that, it’s like those people who say “Fuck, the 80s were so great!” or “Le Palace was so much better back then!” or “The 70s were so much better!” But you need to stop because it’s never coming back, and it’s not helpful to think that way. It’s up to us to move forward, and make sure the time in which we live is as pleasant as it can be, or has ever been. We can’t just get nostalgic. We can’t feel some kind of stupid melancholy for a time or period that we didn’t even know. We need to try and do things as best and as beautifully as we can, because we will never know any different. You need to make your own happiness.

What do you want to be buried with?

JS: I saw this question yesterday and thought about it a lot and searched a lot, and it only made me realize that I am not materialistic at all. Bringing a ring, a jewel, a cat—even photos and things like that—seems sort of pathetic. I’m not a believer; I don’t think anything remains; and I have no interest in material things. I find it sort of pathetic to take one thing with you, just as I find it sort of pathetic to focus on accumulating things like that throughout your life. I would leave as I am.

All I’d take is my secrets.

PH: No. Nothing. And I’d like to be burnt actually, not buried.

What’s next for Wanda Nylon?

JS: Well we’re already doing six collections a year (including Men’s and Women’s pre-collections), so we don’t really want to add any more work—it’s already a huge job. The aim this year is to have more fun. Happiness will come out of that.

Also, we’re working on a project with Victoria’s Secret, which is pretty fun. We’re doing a collaboration for a collection of sunglasses coming out now in time for the fall, and for winter we’ve got three projects on the go which have to do with accessories and the kind of development that Wanda Nylon can’t do alone in the office, mostly technical stuff.

Wide-brim hat and trench coat - Wanda Nylon.

Is Paris dead?

JS: Mais non!
PH: Mais oui!

Wanda Nylon

Thanks:

Versae @ Next Models.

Muriel @ Airport Agency.

paris is dead – kill the light / manifesto

LEFT: View on Obélisque de Louxor, from Place de la Concorde.
RIGHT: Nicolas Huchard, dancer. make-up Tiina Roivanen.

FROM PARIS IS DEAD.COM
Photography by René Habermacher / Styling by Kanako B. Koga / Concept by Antoine Asseraf / Retouching by Dimitri Rigas.

“Paris is dead,” Parisians love to complain.
The golden age is over.
The spotlight is moving on, away from the city of lights..

They are not completely wrong, Paris is no longer the center of the world.

It is no longer the capital of a colonial empire – it disappeared, and in 1968 Parisians turned the page.
It is not the center of the intellectual world – there is no tangible center any more, it has migrated online.
It is not even the number one tourist destination anymore – that’s London.
Thanks, Eurostar.

Dubai, Brooklyn, London, L.A., Berlin, Shanghai… that’s where it’s happening now, allegedly. Even the croissant, the Parisian symbol par excellence: gone on a sexcapade to NYC to produce the Cronut.

LEFT
: Aymeric Bergada du Cadet, stylist. hair Leslie Thibaud. make-up Carole Hannah.
RIGHT: View on Arche de la Défense, from Avenue Charles de Gaulle.

LEFT: View on Arc de Triomphe, from Avenue des Champs-Élysées. 
RIGHT: Mariah Morrison, model. hair Leslie Thibaud, makeup Tiina Roivanen.

But only a city with so much to start with could have so much to lose.

LEFT: Mikael Marvyn Leogane, actor. hair Miharu Oshima, makeup Carole Hannah. 
RIGHT: View on Opéra Garnier, from Avenue de l’Opéra.

LEFT: Tako, model. hair Leslie Thibaud makeup Tiina Roivanen. 
RIGHT: View on Tour Eiffel, from Place du Trocadéro.

Could this “death of the city” simply a byproduct of the internetisation of life ?
When you meet people and experience culture online, what does a city bring ?
Why endure high rents and short days if the pay-off is gone ?
Is this only happening in Paris ?

Make no mistake, Paris was never an easy city. It’s always been more about Death than the Dolce Vita.

François Sagat, actor and entrepreneur. makeup Carole Hannah.

Maria Loks, model. hair Leslie Thibaud, makeup Tiina Roivanen.

Living in Paris is about facing on a daily basis the crushing weight of history.
Everywhere your eye rests, famous names act as reminders that you have not made it yet, and question whether you ever will. What will your great contribution be before you die ?

Panthéon, Montmartre, Père Lachaise… the cemeteries are a who’s who of the life of the city, as much an attraction as the Eiffel tower, and as much of a pull as anything being currently done.

So let us break the taboo. His death, your death, my death. Let us talk about death, so that we may better talk about life.

LEFT: Inès Kokou, singer. hair Leslie Thibaud makeup Tiina Roivanen. 	 	 
RIGHT: View on Pyramide du Louvre, from Cour Carrée du Louvre.

LEFT: View on Pont Neuf, from Pont des Arts. 	 	 
RIGHT: Agathe Rousselle, actress and designer. shirt Cheeky Boom. hair Miharu Oshima makeup Carole Hannah.

Maria Loks, model. hair Leslie Thibaud, make-up Tiina Roivanen.

LEFT: View on Colonne de Juillet, from Place de la Bastille. 	 	 
RIGHT: Inès Kokou, singer. hair Leslie Thibaud make-up Tiina Roivanen.

Is Paris Dead ?

We do not have the answer. We may never reach a conclusion. But we will start the journey of investigation.
Get the pulse on this beautiful corpse or sleeping beauty, whichever it is.
Meet the people who make it tick, and explore their relationship with the city.

Thomas Lagrève, dancer. hair Leslie Thibaud, makeup Tiina Roivanen.

Tako, model. hair Leslie Thibaud, make-up Tiina Roivanen.

Did they choose Paris
or did Paris choose them ?
Where is the center of Paris ?
If Paris were to die, what would they wear to its funeral ?

LEFT: View on Hôtel des Invalides, from Pont Alexandre III. 	 	 
RIGHT: Mariah Morrison, model. hair Leslie Thibaud, make-up Tiina Roivanen.

LEFT: François Sagat.	 	 
RIGHT: Nicolas Huchard, dancer. makeup Tiina Roivanen.

But first, a new, unlikely icon for Paris- the Borniol.

What is Borniol ?
A thick, black, velvety, technical fabric, used for centuries to kill the light.
For funerals, then for photography.

In a city where death and funerary rituals were omnipresent, it was essential to cover windows, mirrors, buildings in black cloth to mark the occasion.

Soon after Daguerre’s invention of photography, the need to block daylight was felt outside the funerary world: photographers and cinematographers rented the cloth.
The obscuring fabric kept the name of the most respected house in Paris – funeral, not fashion that is – still in existence today – Maison Henri de Borniol.

The Borniol is a portable negative space which, wrapped around bodies or quietly standing in the back, as a cloth or as a flag, reveals as much as it hides.

Obscuring the obvious, creating depth, focusing the attention, inviting the darkness, revealing a different picture…

LEFT: Agathe Rousselle, actress and designer. shirt Imperial Measure. hair Miharu Oshima, make-up Carole Hannah. 	 	 
RIGHT: View on Pont Neuf, from Pont des Arts.

THANKS:
Versae @ Next Models
Muriel @ Airport Agency
Galerie Jeanroch Dard

PARIS IS DEAD – SOON.

The Stimuleye will soon unveil its new project, PARIS IS DEAD.

PARIS IS DEAD

LE SAVOIR-FAIRE

For latest fashion film, we headed to… a Belgian butcher shop.

“LE SAVOIR-FAIRE” by The Stimuleye, a film for Jean-Paul Lespagnard’s #1/2015 collection,
with music by TEPR.

OLIVER SIEBER – “THE NEW FUCK YOU”

America, Asia, Europe… each continent spawns its own counter-cultures, centered for the most around music scenes. From these subcultures, Oliver Sieber creates an  ”Imaginary Club” composed of goths, punks, skins and rockabillies – irrespective of their cultural demarcations. 

About 100 photos define the perimeters of Oliver Sieber’s “Imaginary Club, portraits taken in a makeshift studio of concerts, festivals and in clubs, and juxtaposed with black and white shots of deserted rehearsal spaces, street shots and club entrances. 

Oliver Sieber’s “Imaginary Club” is exhibited at the Villa Noailles in Hyères as part of the 29th International Fashion & Photography Festival, a variation on his most recent book of same title.  While setting up this exhibition, Oliver and his collaborator Katja Stuke spoke to The Stimuleye about the need of upheaval, total erosion of style and dress codes in youth culture and the need to find new forms of expressing positions of identity.

Oliver Sieber, "Imaginary Club": Exhibition at Villa Noailles, Hyeres

THE IMAGINARY CLUB

The Stimuleye: Who are these people in your “Imaginary Club”?

Oliver: What really interests me is reaction and forms of counter culture.
After WWII, the teenagers in America and England started to discover new forms of music and fashion, new forms of liberation. Many people I met are still in this sort of idea.  Punk is a very good example, because it did have real societal meaning.

That is what is important to teenager culture: upheaval, the struggle to identification, to root themselves. To not only take position against the elder generation, but in general. And that has often to do with music. I am interested in music, and communication of style codes.

The people in my “Imaginary Club” are not always part of a subculture in the classic sense. I have also portrayed artist friends, that, similar to teenagers, are forced to redefine themselves again and again. Here for example is a photo of Rebecca. From a wealthy family, she received always best grades, suddenly something switched in her head. Rebelling against her intellectual parents, she was climbing down the eaves gutters and was not to tame anymore.

Oliver Sieber, "Imaginary Club": Exhibition at Villa Noailles, Hyeres. Right Side: Rebecca

When I look at my work, I understand it as an entry for the viewer, or a window upon which I reflect myself. Often it is not really about what is on the wall or who is depicted, but about the dialogue between the image and the onlooker. That changes from person to person.

The Stimuleye: Looking at the Portraits there are many Punks, Skinheads, Rockabillies.- is there also something a bit like nostalgia?

Oliver: We have a very globalized music culture today. Subcultures developing real novelties is something rather sparse and rare.  Are there really subcultures that result from youth movements? I think it is not like that anymore. It’s more that youngsters try to identify with their role models of choice.

A good example is David Bowie that in the 70′s offered an image of “multi sexual liberation” for many people, also in combination with music and the song texts that bore a poetry and language that people picked up on.  Just because we have 2014 now, his music did not disappear. You can still buy the records and the language still speaks to people who want to identify with it. And as fans do, they associate themselves with this.  I think people living this don’t reflect on what they do, as we look at it. They just do it.

Katja:
There are always new aspects adding up and things get mixed up. So you have a development that can’t be called the “nostalgic”. It may be rooted in a source, and like in this case ideally there is a progression where new aspects ad up.

Oliver Sieber, excepts from the book "Imaginary Club"

FASHION CODES AND THE INTERNET : THE NEW  “FUCK YOU”

Katja:
Today you often cannot rely on the looks giving an indication on who people are: In Germany you find nazis that look like left anarchist “Antifa” fighters.
That possibly has to do with the internet, where you can communicate your stance or orientation in different ways then through fashion and dress codes.
You also have to react on other people adapting what you personally take serious as a subculture, how they mix your codes, abuse or pervert them.

This makes it sometimes also difficult to determine whom are you following in a protest, where codes are so mixed up, that no one is able to keep up track.
For example in Ukraine its absolutely ambiguous who is protesting with whom recently. Unlike in the past, today it’s hard to determine who is on which side, from demonstrator to counter protester. Now you have young Nazi Hipsters in all black with tight jeans shouldering a jute bag, which really requires more than a second look to recognize what is going on.

In this position you’re forced to find other forms to show your conviction that are different and function without the need of fashion as we had it in the past.
I am sure there are subcultures, but they function really differently, without the involvement of fashion, as the channels are much more multi layered. It’s not about provoking through your look anymore, because nowadays people are not easy to shock. So you have to find other ways and places to put your orientation forwards.

Oliver Sieber, excepts from the book "Imaginary Club"

Oliver: In Japan a lot of messages get transported through flyers and stickers. This was similar in Los Angeles up until recently, but it changed and is now functioning mainly through hotmail panels. Everyone has a smartphone, no matter to which group you belong. The Cosplay culture for example functions only through the forums in the web. That’s all chat, appointments for conventions and Skype.

Katja:
But the internet is not at all as public as you may expect.
Often it’s very difficult to access a certain online group or forums. There are strict admins that want to know who you are and what you do, and remind you that with access you commit to a regular contribution etc- so you can’t just get in and check out. It’s much easier to go into a bar or a club, even if you have to pass and convince the bouncer.

Oliver:
For example I photographed a young punk who realized how his style had been adapted and declared a trend. He totally changed his appearance to not be associated with this widely publicized new trend. That doesn’t mean though that his anti-ascist conviction or adoration for punk changed at all.

As label and the designers pick up on elements of subculture their message is watered down extremely fast, so you have to have to change your codes again. As Jason (Evans) recently said at the Tate: “The new normal is the new ‘Fuck You,’”, because you can’t be categorized like this anymore.

Oliver Sieber, "Imaginary Club": Exhibition at Villa Noailles, Hyeres

PROTEST

Oliver:
That there is a new protest culture again is really great. These positions are getting from the internet to the street again, where you suddenly  have to make an effort, as the codes we’re used to don’t work anymore when you can’t diversify between “good” and “evil”, nor recognize “your” or “my” people.

Katja:
At the same time there is also these movements of parallel culture to create an existence and surrounding of some sorts of withdraw, even resigning.
This may be an approach resulting from being overwhelmed by societal developments. Specially in Japan we’ve met people that engage in small initiatives, artistic ones or others that take care of the homeless. There is this movement of “do it yourself” culture where people search for new forms of living for themselves apart from mainstream, norms and social graces, which are less visible.

Oliver:
When visiting Osaka soon for another exhibit, we plan to investigate deeper into this, meet with these “alternative” people that found a totally different life and structure within of Japanese society.
What I found puzzling was that we met many homeless who spoke great English or Spanish, and had lived and worked abroad, but this had lead that they were not fully integrable any more into society, because the’ve been abroad too long and back in Japan landed on the street.

Katja:
I think that also has to do that people with knowledge of languages have access to much more information over the internet for example, and thus are more open to ideas to try a different draft for their life than their parents, because that didn’t work that well either.
Specially as you can’t rely on social securities anymore- it’s not like our parent generation that studied, took a job and continued with a great retirement plan.

Oliver Sieber, excepts from the book "Imaginary Club"

The Stimuleye: How do you work together?

Katja:
There are varying methods, but at times there are actual connections or a common greater theme and possibilities to juxtapose our work in an exhibition or we publish a book together for example at BöhmKobayashi.

The City of Duesseldorf has provided us with a space we curated for three years where we developed “ANT!FOTO” which was to show exhibitions on positions of photography we feel were missing. As a result we also started a publication the “ANT!FOTO Manifest”  which was a common project of us.

Oliver:
The “ANT!FOTO Manifest”  was a project where we asked 70 photographer and curators to word their statement after a 10 point thesis we created. Initially this was planned only as a magazine, but finally will be shown in the Museum Folkwang as well as going to the
Fotomuseum Winterthur .

The Stimuleye: What is the last thing that stimulated you?

Oliver:
After we talked so much on imagery, I would like to mention something that stimulated me:
when we talked to Frenkie (Bosnian Rapper) while visiting him in Tuzla, i asked him what is “heimat” (homeland) to him.
He said after being a refugee returning from Nuernberg to Tuzla, he realized what he missed: it was the scent of the firing wood that you can smell everywhere in the city. For my senses, apart from sound or music, the smell is very important.

Oliver Sieber, excepts from the book "Imaginary Club"

Imaginary Club 2005-2012 
432 pages, Offset-Print,
a BöhmKobayashi/GwinZegal Joint

Imaginary Club is running at the Villa Noailles in Hyeres until may 25, 2014
and after that at the Galerie Stieglitz 19 in Antwerpen. Opening May 25, 2014,
further dates are at PhotoBookMuseum from August 19, 2014 and after that the Exhibition will be travelling

#wrap-up #awards #alleyesonhyeres #2014

#alleyesonhyeres indeed.

Here’s a wrap up of everything The Stimuleye covered in Hyères for those who missed it.

PHOTOGRAPHY

LORENZO VITTURI, GRAND JURY PRIZE

Italian photographer living in London Lorenzo Vitturi is the first to win 15 000 euros donated by Chanel, for his series “Dalston Anatomy.”

ORIANNE LOPES, SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS FUND

Orianne wins a scholarship to attend the School of Visual Arts’ “Photo Global” program in NYC.

VIRGINIE REBETEZ, SPECIAL MENTION OF THE JURY

Virginie wins a Leica S2 camera.

MARIE RIME, CITY OF HYERES AWARD

Awarded by the votes of the public of Hyères.

All the photographers in competition:

FASHION

CORALIE MARABELLE, CITY OF HYERES AWARD

Awarded by the votes of the public of Hyères.

YULIA YEFIMTCHUK, SPECIAL MENTION OF THE JURY

Yulia’s collection will be carried by Opening Ceremony for the next 2 seasons.

CHLOE PRIZES

This year 2 Chloe prizes were awarded, each with a 15 000 euros fund:

ROSHI PORKAR

LISALORE FROWIJN

KENTA MATSHUSHIGE, GRAND PRIX DU JURY PREMIERE VISION

Kenta, who is from Japan but living and working in Paris, wins 15 000 euros given by Première Vision,
as well as a collaboration with Chanel Metiers d’Arts worth up to 15 000 euros, and a collaboration with Petit Bateau.

ALL DESIGNERS IN COMPETITION + BONUS

THE FASHION SHOW

EXHIBITIONS – UNTIL MAY 25th

More info:
Villa Noailles, Hyères

BONUS

The film directed by Antoine Asseraf & Julien Pujol about 2013 winner Satu Maaranen’s collaboration with Petit Bateau.

#AllEyesOnHyeres2014: Meet the 10 Competing Designers

In preparation for their meeting with the Design Jury, the 10 Competing Designers hurried around making last-minute adjustments and consulting with stylists, while The Stimuleye spent some time getting to know each candidate.

Herewith, a selection of video, photography, and text that offer brief introductions to each of these talented young designers.

All Photos by Filep Motwary

Marit Ilison

Who are you? Your age, your origin, your background, type of collection?
My name is Marit Ilison, I’m 29 years old and live and work in Tallinn, Estonia.  I have a diploma in pattern making  and I studied one year as an exchange student at Danish Design School before receiving my MA degree in Fashion Design from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2008.  Since then I have been working as a freelance artist and designer, creating in the fields of  conceptual art, fashion, costume design, site-specific installations, perceptional experiences and exhibition design. I also teach and play drums in a psychedelic band.

How would you describe Hyères in three words?
Palms, unreal, friendly.

What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
Meeting like-minded people and collaborating with small local artisans in Tallinn. It is so wonderful how so many people have believed in my work and helped me to execute it.

What is your collection about? Please explain your inspiration and starting point, and how it has evolved in the process.
Regardless of the discipline, my main goal is always to create memorable experiences and I always start from a feeling I want to create or an idea I want to express. Longing for Sleep is inspired by my haunting wish to sleep during the dark wintery time called kaamos. Kaamos is a word only know in Estonian and Finnish and it’s referring to the time from November to January when the days are very short and it barely gets light. On one side I would only like to stay in bed and daydream at that time, but on the other side I feel conscience pricking me, which reminds that I should actually be working instead of sleeping. To materialize the feeling I’ve created a collection using original vintage Soviet woolen blankets.

In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future?
It is a truly unique chance to present my work to wider audience and get the spotlight on it. I am looking forward to meet like-minded people and find exciting future collaborations in fashion design, site-specific installations and experiences.

 Louis Gabriel Nouchi

Who are you? Your age, your origin, your background, type of collection?

My name is Louis Gabriel Nouchi. Im french, I’m 26 years old. I live in Brussels. I’m studying at La Cambre.

How would you describe Hyères in three words?
Intense, exciting, sunny.

What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
To see my clothes worn by a real model.

What is your collection about? Please explain your inspiration and starting point, and how it has evolved in the process.
I’ve made a collection about the movie Princess Mononoke from Hayao Miyasaki and the notion of balance between opposite forces that have to live together in harmony.

In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future?
I hope it will help me to meet professionals and create contacts for whatever is going to happen after school.

Liselore  Frowjin

Who are you? Your age, your origin, your background, type of collection?
My name is Liselore Frowijn, I am 22 years old and I come from the Netherlands. I graduated Cum Laude less then a year ago at ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in Arnhem, the Netherlands, on my bachelor fashion design. I designed a collection womenswear which is about the contrast between sportswear and luxury with the use of self designed fabrics.

How would you describe Hyeres in three words?
I would describe Hyères as exciting, energetic, and a creative meltingpot.

What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
Regarding to the festival I think my favorite part of the process so far is to meet all the other designers and creatives, being together in the villa and working hard to create a beautiful festival.

What is your collection about? Your inspiration and starting point and how it has evolved in the process.
My collection ‘’Afternoon Of A Replicant’’ is about the clash between sportswear and luxury, which is based on the cut-outs of Matisse. By cutting and pasting with paper, I created cut out-suits for women of my time. Above these suits are pieces of artisanal fabrics with self-designed prints, hand-painted or embroidered. The silhouettes are voluminous and layered. The transparency of fabrics causes an eclectic play-a-long between background and foreground: a fresh kind of luxury is the result.

In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future?
I hope that Hyeres will bring me the right connections to help my career a level up in the fashion industry. I would like to work as a fashion designer womenswear in a house in for example Milan or Paris to gain more experience. Later on, I would like to have my own brand. By being part of this Festival all ten finalist are really put on the radar, a lot of people will notify our work, which can be very helpful.

Agnese Narnicka

Who are you? Your age, your origin, your background, type of collection?
My name is Agnese Narnicka, I am from Latvia, Riga city. I received an M.A. from the Art Academy of Latvia in 2009. I have enriched my knowledge and experience in Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Italy, Milano. After graduating I started to work on my own label One Wolf. I will present menswear collection “Repair man.” Collection has urban shapes and multi layered look.

How would you describe Hyeres in three words?
Bloom, Team, Future

What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
My speech rehearsal :}

What is your collection about? Your inspiration and starting point and how it has evolved in the procedure. 
The Inspiration for collection “Repair man” comes from my personal experience in 2012 when I was doing repair-works in my apartment. During this period I met several craftsmen whose personalities influenced the making of collection and are reflected in its characters. By taking off the old paint, by coating walls, painting, grinding and applying tiles I discovered many textures, colours and combinations of different materials.

In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future?
The Hyères festival provides an opportunity to show my creations to a wider audience and to get new contacts. I really appreciate this opportunity!

Coralie Marabelle

Who are you? Your age, your origin, your background, type of collection?
My name is Coralie Marabelle, I am French and I am from Paris. I am presenting a womenswear collection for the Hyères Festival.

How would you describe Hyeres in three words?
Exciting, surprising, promising.

What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
So far i have really enjoy discovering the Villa Noailles. It’s an amazing place full of history. I feel super excited to work in this place where so many amazing artists have come before.

What is your collection about? Your inspiration and starting point and how it has evolved in the process.
My collection is inspired from a picture of persian sheep shearers in 1952. Inspired by a very masculine outfit, I dreamt of a very feminine woman.

In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyères will help you in the future?
I think the Hyères festival gives us a lot of visibility which is amazing. It also give us the opportunity to meet a lot of people from the fashion industry.

Anne Kluytenaar

Who are you? Your age, your origin, your background, type of collection?
My name is Anne Kluytenaar, I am 27 years old and I am from the Netherlands. My collection is menswear.

How would you describe Hyères in three words?
Inspiring, exceptional, fun!

What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
My favourite part so far was making the fabrics and creating embroidery.

What is your collection about? Please explain your inspiration and starting point, and how it has evolved in the process.
I was inspired for my concept when my father told me one evening that he would continue to live life as a woman. She was not aware of the physical difference between women and men and would wear all the volume on the shoulders and wear a slim pencil skirt with it which augmented her masculine shape. To me the house of Chanel is a perfect example of luxurious elegance with a clear silhouette. Also their rich fabric and details were very inspiring.

In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future?
It has opened me up to broader possibilities in the international fashion scene, allowing me to showcase my work to a wide audience and connect with industry professionals as well as like minded designers.

Roshi Porkar

Who are you? Your age, your origin, your background, type of collection?
Roshi Porkar, 25, Vienna, women’s wear.

What is your collection about? Please explain your inspiration and starting point, and how it has evolved in the process.
Feminine, fancy. fancy. The theme of the collection is based on a series of little statutes of stone, known as the Bactrian Princesses. I worked around the woman’s body, exaggerating the conventionally desired form for a woman’s body.
How would you describe Hyères in three words?
Exciting, emotional, exhausting.

What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
Getting to know all the talented contestants and the jury members.

In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyeres will help you in the future?
I just hope to be busy for the next few years.

Pablo Henrard

Who are you? Your age, your origin, your background, type of collection?
My name is Pablo Henrad, I’m belgian and I just finished studying at La Cambre. I am presenting a menswear collection called Maelstrom.

How would you describe Hyeres in three words?
Exciting, exhausting, and crazy.

What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
To meet and to get to know all the contestants.

What is your collection about? Your inspiration and starting point and how it has evolved in the process.
I worked on the darkness and the mystery of the untouched oceanic abyss. I questioned the notion of elegance, sensuality and sophistication in the masculine wardrobe.

In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyères will help you in the future?
It surely helps because of all the interesting people we met here, the new connections and all the professionals.

Kenta Matsushige

Who are you? Your age, your origin, your background, type of collection?
My name is Kenta Matsushige, I’m 25 years old, I’m from Yamaguchi in Japan. I studied fashion 2 years in Osaka and 2 years in Paris. Now I working as a freelance designer and modelist (pattern maker) in Paris. My collection is a womenswear collection.

How would you describe Hyères in three words?
Nature, meeting people, collaborations.

What has been your favorite part of the process so far?
All the process is really important for me, to create my own universe and work on volumes, fabrics, and find technical details or construction.

What is your collection about? Your inspiration and starting point and how it has evolved in the process?
My collection was inspired by minimal structure, nature serenity, and traditional elements. I tried to find a balance between their confrontations.

In what ways you think participating in a Festival like Hyères will help you in the future?

Hyeres gives me opportunities to collaborate with professionals and meet people who understand me and help me to create my universe. It will help me to create my own brand in the future.

Yulia Yefimtchuk

#AllEyesOnHyeres2014: Interviews with Photographers in Competition

By the time the Hyères Festival opened to the public today, Friday, April 25, more than 100 exchanges had already been had between the competing photographers and the established members of the photo jury. Brought together in the Cubist Garden at Villa Noailles—a Modernist masterpiece built by architect Robert Mallet Stevens in the hills above the village—each candidate met individually with every member of the panel, overseen by renowned fashion photographer Steve Hiett and assembled very much in his image: eclectic, open, progressive.

The Stimlueye took some time to speak with each of the competing photographers about their work and background.

All Photos by Filep Motwary

ARNAUD LAJEUNIE, 27, FRANCE

Who are you? 

My name is Arnaud Lajeunie, I am 27, from France. I have a MA in Political Sciences (SciencesPo, Paris) and a BA in Photography (Les Gobelins, Paris)

What forces, cultural or otherwise, have influenced your work?

Some contemporary writers (Deleuze, Maldiney)
Painting (Cézanne, El Greco, Klee, Cy Twombly)
Music also played a rather significant role too, (Steve Reich, Gustav Mahler, Jean Sibelius, french rap and german electronic music)

How would you describe the body of work that you’re presenting at Hyeres?

Water meets colour, colour meets water is a project I started in 2011, when fascinated by the waves-rocks contact. I desired to overcome the mere spectator status and to engage nature. The colors came rather naturally, and after some research about the products I could use, I finally opted for food colorants. The introduction of colour serves different purposes: it thickens the transparent water, add density and then enables short-term sculptures that alter the viewers perception and understanding of the scene. But, more significant for me, the colour modulates the landscape and create the inner rhythm of the image. This notion of rhythm is crucial as the latter conveys sensations, which, in return raises questions. The images provide no straightforward interpretation and therefore offer a space for imagination, sensation and questioning. I feel there is a contemporary relevance to create area that contest this desire to render decipherable the physical space in which we live.

How does this specific suite of images relate to your larger practice?

Water meets colour, colour meets water adresses the recurrent idea of engaging nature through artificial devices, in order to modulate and then blur the initial understanding of the depicted landscapes. Through this collision between natural fluxes and man-made inputs I seek rhythms, that will generate sensations and, in a second moment, raises critical questions (notably about the issue of control and failure). However, the aesthetic sensation remains compulsory, I think, as it paves the way to a sort of “mental space” where these questions can blossom.

ANNA GRZELEWSKA, 38, POLAND

Who are you? 

My name is Anna Grzelewska. I am 38 years old. I’m from Poland. I studied anthropology of culture, documentary directing and photography.

What forces, cultural or otherwise, have influenced your work?

I was always inspired by women that were photographers. First of my authorities was Julia Cameron, then Diane Arbus, Nan Goldin and recently Cindy Sherman. Not only their work but also their lives, their sensitivity. Also cinema and theatre had a huge influence on my work.  I explore  the line between true and fiction, reality and creation.

How would you describe the body of work that you’re presenting at Hyeres?

Julia wannabe project is searching for woman’s identity. It tells about maturation of the girl, my daughter Julia. About this ambiguous and mysterious period of time. Photographing Julia I discovered the transfer process. My childhood mix with hers and hidden, never expressed emotions revive. In that sense this is my self-portrait.

How does this specific suite of images relate to your larger practice?

Julia wannabe is a long term project.  Among others, this one is special. It’s about my identity my daughter, about myself. It is not finish yet. I will continue it.

OSMA HARVILAHTI, FINLAND

Who are you? 

My name is Osma Harvilahti and I was born in Helsinki. My work is based on traveling and exploring different cultures through documenting and a certain visual philosophy and rules that I set to myself. Currently I’m spending about a third of each year traveling and shooting material for books and other personal projects. My background is in social sciences and still the most common motive behind my photography is social. The body of work that I’m showing at Hyères this year is titled as “New Colour”, simply because one of the dominant themes in my work is the use of colour and because it’s “new” as it’s shot during the past 15 months and within a period of 3 months.

What forces, cultural or otherwise, have influenced your work?

One of the greatest motives behind my work is the challenge of transforming my aesthetic to resonate between different cultures. The work is mainly build on very formal qualities such as combinations of colour, material and other abstract elements but on the other hand I’m always aiming to tell stories through abstract visual narratives.

How would you describe the body of work that you’re presenting at Hyeres?

The body of work that is on show at Hyères is an edition of photographs from my first monograph that got published in 2013. It reveals the sometimes abstract and largely visual philosophy behind my work and shows some of my favourite pieces I was able to produce last year. During the festival I will also show a new body of work in forms of a presentation and a print portfolio.

How does this specific suite of images relate to your larger practice?

It’s very important that the image I produce feels honest and unpretentious. Simply put, I’m always aiming to produce work that feels “real” and looks beautiful. One of the qualities I’m constantly aiming towards is that I could create a sort of a continuum and a connection between my older work and the new work, so that the photographs relate and resonate between each other and most importantly become part of something larger rather than just a body of work that get’s forgotten when something new appears. I’m hoping that the new work that I will be producing in japan and China this year will connect and respond to some questions I created last year at very different cultures and locations.

ORIANNE LOPES, 25, FRANCE

Who are you? 

My name is Orianne Lopes, I’m 25 years old, I was born in France (Lyon) but my parents are Portuguese. I have been studying at ECAL (École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne) in Switzerland where I’m living now.

What forces, cultural or otherwise, have influenced your work?

I was inspired by all the myth about the Venus and feminist preoccupations in all ages but also by the artists who had worked on these subjects. For this work precisely, I have been influenced by famous figures like the black Venus, Josephine Baker, Grace Jones…

How would you describe the body of work that you’re presenting at Hyeres?

I would describe it as a totally uninhibited and visual feeling about the black female body in the western culture and the clichés which are linked to. In a more larger view it’s a photographic work about the image of the feminine ideal.

How does this specific suite of images relate to your larger practice?

I have always been treating of femininity and body in my practice in different ways and with different use of the photographic medium.

BIRTHE PIONTEK, GERMANY

Who are you? 

My name is Birthe Piontek. I am originally from Germany but currently based in Vancouver, Canada. I moved there in 2005, after graduating from the University of Essen, where I did my Masters in Communications Design and Photography. Since then I have been working as a photographer for various magazines i.e. New York Times Magazine, Le Monde, Esquire etc. while also pursuing my own artistic projects.

What forces, cultural or otherwise, have influenced your work?

I’ve always been very interested in portraiture and the different ways of how people’s identities are displayed. In the beginning I looked a lot at classical portrait painting from the Renaissance or the Dutch masters. I was also inspired by  a certain cinematic style that you can find in movies of David Lynch.

How would you describe the body of work that you’re presenting at Hyeres?

The work I am presenting at Hyeres is a continuation of my exploration of the idea of an image representing a person. With the work Mimesis I create a fictional world of representation that mediates our relationship to reality. I appropriate, change and reinterpret the original found images, in an effort to invite the viewer to look beyond the surface.

How does this specific suite of images relate to your larger practice?

I’m interested in portraiture and see my camera as a tool to investigate the question of identity. While in the past I worked in a more traditional way of portraiture, I am now more curious to include other art forms such as installation and sculpture in my practice.

VIRGINIE REBETEZ, 35, SWITZERLAND

Who are you? 

My name is Virginie Rebetez. I am freshly 35 and I come from Switzerland. I studied Photography first at the Photography School of Vevey, in Switzerland, then I went to Amsterdam to do the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, from which I graduated in 2008. I am living now in Lausanne (CH), after having spent 7 years in Amsterdam.

What forces, cultural or otherwise, have influenced your work?

I am interested in photographic works having a real reflection on the Photography medium. I am a fan of Taryn Simon, for instance. But I can get inspiration to start a new project from many different things: People I meet, “faits divers” in the newspaper, movies or books (the description of “the psycho-magic acts” from Alejandro Jodorowski for example.)

How would you describe the body of work that you’re presenting at Hyeres?

The work I am presenting at Hyères is called «Under Cover». The serie counts 13 photographs (5 presented in the festival) and was made last year in the biggest cemetery of Soweto (South Africa). I photographed the tombstones which are covered with different materials (blankets, plastic..) and so are masking the identity of the deceased. This practice is part of the funeral ritual. When the tombstone is placed, after the funeral, the family covers it immediately. The tombstone will stay in this state until the “unveiling ceremony”, a big ceremony not to honor the life on earth of the deceased anymore, as the funeral, but to celebrate his life after death. This covering period can go from weeks to years.

I decided to photograph them in front of a black background to put them out of their context and so giving them a new status, a new identity. They become then statues, totems, silenced characters, or monuments waiting to be revealed to the public. Of course, the action of ‘unveiling’ is quite symbolic…

How does this specific suite of images relate to your larger practice?

All my works are closely related and follow the same research, the same interest for the invisible, the invisible world, the traces left after a disappearance, after death. I like to reactivate something dying or already dead in creating something new out of it, as an attempt to stop the final closure. I am interested in questioning our concepts of identity, memory both individual and collective as well as the medium of Photography itself.

MARIE RIME, 24, SWITZERLAND

Who are you? 

My name is Marie Rime. I am 24 years old and come from Switzerland. I am actually finishing my BA in Photography at the Ecal in Lausanne.

What forces, cultural or otherwise, have influenced your work?

What inspires me the most is the place I come from, Switzerland. I have been raised and I still live there, so its culture, traditions, news and problems are part of who I am today.

How would you describe the body of work that you’re presenting at Hyeres?

I am presenting two different series at the festival : Armures and Pharma. Armures is a series representing seven pictures of women wearing armors that I created myself with household objects. Pharma is a reflection about the power of pharmaceutical industry and the ambiguity of its role, attractive but necessary.

How does this specific suite of images relate to your larger practice?

The two series have a very different esthetic but they both refer to the general idea of power and its ambiguity and attractiveness.

MARLEEN SLEEUWITS, 33, NETHERLANDS

Who are you? 

My name is Marleen Sleeuwits and I am 33 years old. I was born in the east of Holland where I grew up in a small village. At age 17 I moved to The Hague where I studied photography at the Royal Academy of Art. After graduation I worked two years as a commercial photographer but this didn’t feel like it was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I started the MA in Breda to find out about my own fascinations and how to work on my own projects. With my photoworks I explore places with which it seems you are unable to make any connection. I construct and deform spaces in empty office buildings until an image comes into being that conveys this experience.

What forces, cultural or otherwise, have influenced your work?

I like wandering through cities I haven’t been before but mostly I am inspired by the buildings where I temporarily work. These are office blocks from the 70′s. Their interiors are filled with cheap short lived materials such as laminate flooring, self-adhesive wall tiles. It’s fascinating for me that these materials are like a shell that holds no memory and can be changed every few years.
Also I’m very interested in photographers who search for the boundaries in photography. In The Netherlands there are quite a lot of young photographers who make great work and experiment with the medium, combining photography with video, sculpture and installations.

How would you describe the body of work that you’re presenting at Hyeres?

The four photo’s shown in Hyeres are an overview of the works I made in the last three years. Their all interiors I have constructed in empty office buildings. It is unclear what their function is, where they are and what time of day they were photographed. They almost appear to be situated beyond consciousness. The feeling of estrangement and detachment is at the heart of my work. I try to capture the experience of being disconnected from a physical space by almost inviting the viewer to step inside the picture and relate physically to what is portrayed there. Print size and sharpness are therefore of essential importance. In Interiors I play with scale, perception, and the tension between reality and illusion.

4. How does this specific suite of images relate to your larger practice?

How does this specific suite of images relate to your larger practice?

For a long time my work was focused on generic urban spaces such as the empty corners of office blocks, waiting areas at airports or the deserted corridors of hotels. Interiors where we often find ourselves but are shut off, as it were, from our consciousness. Previously I searched for and photographed a portrayal of such places; three years ago, in order to delve deeper into the experience of these locations, I have began to intervene with such like interiors. These transformations mostly resemble temporary installations or sculptures and make the experience of disconnection transmissible on a more psychological level. The four photo’s shown here can be seen as a small overview of this last period.

CHARLOTTE TANGUY, 35, FRANCE

Who are you? 

My name is Charlotte Tanguy, I am 35 and come from France. I actually studied drawing and illustration. I am self-taught in photography, it came later: five years ago.

What forces, cultural or otherwise, have influenced your work?

I was interested in a cinematic way of sequencing. Cinema and literature influence my work, but also dance, scientific essays etc.

How would you describe the body of work that you’re presenting at Hyeres?

It is a vivid sequence and experience. I put myself in a situation that creates distance between me and my surroundings, and at the same time it makes elementary forms visible.

How does this specific suite of images relate to your larger practice?

This series is the continuity of my previous work, which ended on an inability to read and understand my surroundings, it became my statement.

LORENZO VITTURI, ITALY

Who are you? 

My name is Lorenzo Vitturi, and I am a Venetian photographer living and working in London.
I studied design and photography, and I started to work as a set designer in the film industry in Rome. I then I brought all this experience into my photography practice which revolves around playful site-specific interventions at the intersection of photography, sculpture and performance.

What forces, cultural or otherwise, have influenced your work?

The main force that influences my work everyday is my passion for light, colour and form.
Culturally I’ve been mostly influenced by my hometown Venice and it’s melancholic beauty.
Venice influenced the way I looked at the world, my experiences and expectations.  My memories are suprasensorial, and I’ve searched for ways to harness this, and translate it into photographs – to disregard it’s perceived intangibility, to manipulate space and the space of the image, and evoke smell in colour and memory in transforming forms and materials.

How would you describe the body of work that you’re presenting at Hyeres?

Here at Hyeres I am presenting a brief selection of my latest project, Dalston Anatomy, which is a book about the Ridley Road Market in Dalston– a unique place in London that is maintaining its authenticity in spite of a surrounding gentrification process. Its community represents perfectly the multicultural nature of Hackney and East London.

During the last year I have been taking pictures, making sculptures and collages with all sort of material I have been finding along the street of the market.

How does this specific suite of images relate to your larger practice?

My larger practice is a continuous dialogue between photography and sculpture. For this reason, in order to make the most of the space I had available here in Hyeres I chosen to present the suite of images as a site-specific installation using different kind of materials coming from my studio in London.

rocky

The Stimuleye presents Chase The Cool, the first music video from the first of EP of Rocky.

CHASE THE COOL, written & directed by Antoine Asseraf & Rene Habermacher.

Your EP is very diverse sonically – is it because you’re still experimenting, or because you refuse to choose one style ?
Let’s say you can find in Rocky the influences we wanted to play with: House, Pop, R&B. All these musics are not so different, they all have their roots in African American music.

Lille, Paris,… is it important where you’re from?
No. Today you can make the same music whether you’re from Lille, Paris or Madrid. Even though it’s true there isn’t the same energy in a big city like New York as in… Paris.

Singing in French…is it taboo for you ?
Not at all. We’re thinking about it for the next EP.

What’s it like playing the Olympia concert hall Jouer à l’Olympia? Inès, you mentionned you had already sung there before the Inrocks Festival…
You can say what you want, the Olympia isn’t a venue like any other. We were lucky enough to play it twice (the first time opening for The Shoes) and it was a great experience each time. The mood is peculiar, and you always get a reaction when you tell your family you’ll play there.

What’s your process, from writing to production ?
There are no rules. But generally we start from a base by one of us, we push the production further and Inès tries to lay down some vocals. We go back and forth like this a few times, until we like it enough to play it to Pierre Le Ny, the Art Director of the label, who’ll put it in the trash.

Sometimes, when he thinks the track is cool, he’ll send it Guillaume Brière (half of the The Shoes), who finalizes it and puts it on a record.
At least that’s how we do it now. It’s simple to tell, but in fact each step comes with its share of tears and despair.

Where did the name Rocky come from?
We wanted a name that was cool, easy to remember, that would work in any language. This one was already part of the collective imagination, so the work was already done, which made it easy. We also liked the idea of highjacking an already ultra famous name from its origins. It never fails to trigger people to ask us about the name.

What is the last thing which stimulated you ?
TRUE DETECTIVE !

Rocky, by The Stimuleye.

Rocky Tour Dates

#AllEyesOnHyeres: Humberto Leon and Carol Lim of KENZO, presidents of the fashion jury

American designers Humberto Leon and Carol Lim surged into the global spotlight in 2002, as the co-founders of New York City’s preeminent boutique, Opening Ceremony. With its keenly curated selection of luxury brands, the shop quickly attracted the attention of the fashion world at large, and in July 2011, Leon and Lim were appointed as the creative directors of Parisian label KENZO.

Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, by Filep Motwary.

The strong friendship shared by this creative duo dates back to their years at UC Berkeley in California, where they met as students in early 2000. After a decade of successful project launches and hotly anticipated collaborations with other labels and designers, they continue to challenge fashion habits and to conceive new methods of design.

Today, both are enthralled by the KENZO spirit, which they perceive as a lifestyle all its own, and the label is shaped by the singular creativity born of their partnership. The originality and diversity of patterns and prints, the bright colours, music and rhythms of disparate cultures from around the world are all inspirations behind KENZO’s revival: under the guidance of Leon and Lim, it strives to achieve a universality which will seduce men and women of all ages.

Fashion has been a catalyst and playground for socio-cultural movements. Today’s trends are tracked from street to runway and back again at such speed that subcultures can barely exist beyond the brands. In what way do you feel today’s fashion is relevant?

Fashion has and always will be one of the easiest ways people can express themselves. We love drawing inspiration from everything around us: culture, art, music, food, travel, and from seeing what people are wearing on the streets. Today’s fashion, the product of a more connected world, is extremely relevant for what KENZO stands for today. That connectivity is what brings people together: streetwear melding with tailoring, night and day, comfort and style. All of these elements and more make fashion right now an extremely exciting place to be.

Do you think that something originally pegged as a luxury fashion brand could evolve into something that ends up being a mainstream feature? Is it a good thing being mainstream or not?

What some people seem to forget is that KENZO as a brand was never intended to be “luxury.” Kenzo Takada, when he founded the brand, dreamt of creating collections accessible to the street. We feel that mainstream isn’t a negative word and that mainstream fashion can still be heavily design oriented. KENZO has always been democratic, and since joining the company in 2011, we wanted people to remember this. Mainstream usually means something collectively appreciated and that is something we like to celebrate. We would love for KENZO to be a household name around the world.

Carol Lim, by The Stimuleye.

Do you think it’s always advisable for designers to be very visible, seemingly available to and engaged with their audience? Should relatability, especially in this age of social media and hyper connectivity, always be a goal? How should a designer understand himself or herself in relation to the consumer?

It really depends on the brand. For us at KENZO we love engaging with the customer because that is where you see if your collections are something people will want to buy and wear. We want people to understand who we are as a company, and in order to do that, we have to understand who they are as clients. Social media gives us a direct link to our customers and we love being able to have a dialogue with them. They can ask questions, discover more about our world and become a part of the KENZO community.

Humberto Leon, by The Stimuleye.

You’re surrounded by collaborators coming from very different directions. For KENZO, how important is the idea of “family,” and the creative exchange with its members?

It’s super important for us. Both at KENZO and Opening Ceremony we work with our friends. It creates an open dialogue and brings out the best ideas. Working with collaborators such as Spike Jonze or Chloe Sevigny, people we have known for such a long time, is a joy. It’s important to love what you do, and what could be better than brainstorming or working on projects with people you admire and respect on both a personal and professional level?

Talent is an obvious thing to look for in a contestant, but what other qualities do you think will be important to look for in a designer, right now, in 2014?

We will look for a strong point of view as well as for someone who understands the importance of the whole process of design. It is important to be able to understand the business aspects as well as all the creative ones. Also, we will look for someone who has both drive and a sense of humility.

What is the last thing you saw, read, heard or felt that stimulated you?

Carol: Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind, an animated film by Miyazaki.

Humberto: Seeing The XX perform an 40 person intimate show in New York.

NOTE: Interview questions were put together by this year’s Hyères Festival Blog Partners:
Malibongwe Tyilo, Filep Motwary, Branko Popovic, The Stimuleye, Sean Santiago, The Kinsky.

#AllEyesOnHyeres: Steve Hiett, president of the photo jury

Steve Hiett pursued a Masters Degree from the Royal College of Art Graphic Design before his Swinging London years, which saw him travelling the world as the lead guitarist of Britain’s psych/pop group The Pyramid.

But it was not until an unfortunate accident on stage deprived him temporarily of his Fender—namely, electrocution from an ungrounded microphone—that he turned back toward his roots in the visual arts, and picked up a camera. Initially documenting his own group while on tour, he was soon photographing the international rock scene at large.

Steve Hiett, by The Stimuleye.

Over the past four decades, Hiett has pioneered a signature style that has become instrumental to the global world of fashion photography. Favoringover-saturated images, off-centre framing, unconventional compositions, and dazzling flash work, his work has been featured regularly in renowned magazines worldwide—from Nova and Queen to British Vogue, Vogue Paris, Elle, and Marie Claire.

The Hyères festival 2014 will present the first major exhibition of Hiett’s oeuvre, emphasizing the unsung aspects of his images and re-establishing him as a figurehead in the history of contemporary photography.

Steve Hiett lives in Paris, where he continues to work as a photographer for renowned fashion publications (notably for Vogue Italy), as well as a musician, graphic designer, and art director.

What was the process behind selecting the images for your exhibition at Hyeres? What will the visitors see?

Steve Hiett: Raphaëlle Stopin came to my place and looked through everything I could find. She selected the images.

Steve Hiett, Vogue, 1979.

You didn’t plan to become a photographer, and it seems that your early photography was informed by your circumstances while you were on tour. Considering how digital and technological developments throughout media have changed the landscape of photography, what kind of career path do you think you would find yourself upon if you were only beginning your career in the present day? How would a young Steve Hiett go about his business in 2014?

SH: Starting today? I have no idea. Fashion photography is such a complex thing now; lots of politics and all the digital processes, which makes doing a photo so long and complicated. When I started, you just walked into a magazine and the art director would give you a job. I don’t think you can do that now. Also, to take a photo, you took a light reading, pressed the button and that was it; what you got back from the lab was it—end of story. Now you are dealing with all sorts of choices and the new world of retouching, which can go on for days. I worked for 30 years and never retouched anything. It never entered my head (or any other fashion photographer) as even a possibility.

Steve Hiett, 1979.

Looking back over your career as fashion photographer, is there a certain period in time that stands out for you in particular?

SH:Starting. I knew nothing, but it didn’t matter.

Having worked through the last few decades of fashion photography, what kinds of major aesthetic shifts have you noticed?

SH: Now the boss is the fashion editor. They decide who works and who doesn’t, but before it was the art director.

Steve Hiett, 1979.

There is always some sort of tension in your photography. How do you achieve it?

SH: Tension in my pictures? That must be subconscious: I never look for tension. I look for the right feeling.

What is the last thing that stimulated you?

SH:The last thing that stimulated me? Steve Cropper’s guitar solo on “Green Onions,” which I have listened to 1000 times. I listened to it again last night; still has that magic. OK, I know the notes he plays, but it goes way beyond that—it’s a magic thing.

NOTE: Interview questions were put together by this year’s Hyères Festival Blog Partners:
Malibongwe Tyilo, Filep Motwary, Branko Popovic, The Stimuleye, Sean Santiago, The Kinsky.

#alleyesonhyeres

Hyères Hyères, Hyères-Hyères Hyères Hyères !

Of course, we’ll be keeping you up to date with all the news from the festival in the weeks to come… #AllEyesOnHyères

Hyères 2104
International Fashion & Photography Festival
April 25-28th, 2014
Villa Noailles, Hyères, France.

Directed by Antoine Asseraf for The Stimuleye
Set by Mathilde Nivet

rocky

Label G.U.M. and The Stimuleye present Rocky’s first EP,
produced by The Shoes‘ Guillaume Briere
Cover by René Habermacher.
“Chase The Cool” video by The Stimuleye, coming soon.

ROCKY EP1 by René Habermacher.

Read the rest of this entry »

all eyes on hyères

Last Hyères before it turns 30.

For its 29th edition, Villa Noailles director and Fashion + Photography founder Jean-Pierre Blanc invited the American duo of Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, Kenzo designers and Opening Ceremony founders, to preside the Fashion Jury.

Amidst hundred’s of applicants from 55 different countries, here are the 10 finalists they picked.

Official lookbook by The Stimuleye.

Hyères 2014 - ALL EYES ON HYERES - by The Stimuleye.

All 10 designers were selected on the basis of a dossier and a full outfit, first by art director Maida Gregory-Boina, Maria Luisa buyer Robin Schulié and The Stimuleye colleague Filep Motwary, then by the jury presidents and their guests: Jay Massacret (V Man), Eric Wilson (InStyle), Carol Song (Opening Ceremony) and actress Chloé Sevigny.
Read the rest of this entry »

Merry Xmas, Mister Sakamoto.

Manuscript to the score of "Furyo" by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Photography René Habermacher.

It doesn’t quite add up.

There are the many facets of Ryuichi Sakamoto, but putting them together, you still wouldn’t get a sense of who the man is.

He is both an icon of Japan’s 1980′s Bubble Era, and the one who moved beyond Japan and away from the spotlight, a consistent experimentalist and accidental sex-symbol.

Founding member of the influential band Yellow Magic Orchestra, Japan’s answer to Kraftwerk.

Musical innovator for over 30 years, mixing synthpop, Okinawan traditions, sampling, bossa nova….

Screen-mate of David Bowie in the cult film “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” / “Furyo.”

Film composer for Almodovar, Oshima, Bertolucci, Oliver Stone and Brian de Palma.

Collaborating with David Byrne, Brian Wilson, Youssou N’Dour and the Dalai Lama.
Appearing in Madonna’s “Rain” music video.
Sampled by Afrika Bambaataa…and Mariah Carey.

And last but not least, well before the Fukushima accident, a prominent activist in Japan’s anti-nuclear effort.

It doesn’t quite add up, and that’s really for the best, as we found out after spending an afternoon with him in New York City

Left: inspiration board. Right: Ryuichi Sakamoto. Photography by René Habermacher.

The Stimuleye: When did you first feel personally concerned with the nuclear issue?

Ryuchi Sakamoto: Probably I started feeling anxious about it around the time of Chernobyl. Then I encountered the facts about the nuclear reprocessing plant in the northern part of Japan called Rokkasho. It was 7 years ago, pretty recent.

It’s not a usual nuclear plant, it’s to re-use, re-process used radioactive wastes. Through the processing, you emit hundreds of time more radioactive materials than the usual nuclear plant does. You get 365 nuclear plants in 1 village. Very dangerous.

So I started a web campaign, called Stop Rokkasho, I asked Kraftwerk to give us a sound logo, and they did actually ! The pretty famous graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook had his assistant design the webpage, which was very neat.

As a web campaign it succeeded, my friends – photographers, musicians, stylists, creative people got to know about this plant. We decided to make a Stop Rokkasho tshirt, we asked more than 50 designers to make a tshirt. They needed phrases, so I gave them “No Nukes. More Trees.”
Everybody loved it, especially the second line.
It’s very easy to understand, and no one can resist.

So, I decided to form a company called “More Trees”, it’s been 6 years, and we’ve been doing mainly conservation of Japanese forests. We have now 11 forests in Japan and 1 in Philippines.
Read the rest of this entry »

what the FIAC ?!

OK people, fashion time’s over. It’s Art time.

WhatTheFIAC, written & directed by Antoine Asseraf.

FIAC, Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain, 2013 trailer, directed by Antoine Asseraf.

For its 40th edition, and in order to accommodate the ever-growing interest in the art scene, the FIAC is expanding and taking different forms throughout Paris.

Beyond the glass dome of the Grand Palais and the hundreds of galleries showing there, the FIAC is installing artwork accessible for free to the public in its “Hors-les-murs” (‘outside the walls’) program. Prestigious locations such as the Jardin des Tuileries, Place Vendôme, and Jardin des Plantes are joined this year by the brand new Berges de Seine left bank pedestrian embankments, running from Musée d’Orsay to Quai Branly.

YUM.

FIAC 2013. Photo by René Habermacher.

FIAC 2013
October 24-27
Grand Palais
& Hors-les-Murs: Petit Palais / Berges de Seine / Jardin des Tuileries / Auditorium du Louvre / Place Vendôme / Jardin des Tuileries

WhatTheFIAC
produced by SayWho
creative direction The Stimuleye
directed by Antoine Asseraf
photography by René Habermacher
art direction by Mathilde Nivet
hands by Aurélie Nguyen
voice by Lynsey Peisinger

fashion time – adolfo dominguez

Last but not least for the fall, we had the chance to film model Andreea Diaconu alongside photographer Karim Sadli for Adolfo Dominguez…

 Adolfo Dominguez FW 2013/14, film by Antoine Asseraf, in collaboration with Karim Sadli.

fashion time – elie saab magic moments

For the this fall, we collaborated with Elie Saab to create cinematic “magic moments” around their fashion shows.
Cool but dramatic blue for ready to wear.
Royal but intense red for couture.

ELIE SAAB FW 2013/14 Ready To Wear, "STRICTLY DECORATIVE".

ELIE SAAB FW 2013/14 Couture, "A Royal Affair".

Directed by Antoine Asseraf
Produced by Premices Films
Assisted by Julien Pujol

fashion time – andam award 2013

It’s that time of the year again – fashion week.

First up is the ANDAM award, one of the biggest and oldest fashion awards, which for it’s first edition had rewarded the work of a young man named Martin Margiela…

Now it’s 2013 and the ANDAM jury is supporting the accessible menswear of AMI (“friend”) aka Alexandre Mattiussi.

a PREMICES FILMS production
with THE STIMULEYE

more info,
ANDAM.fr