Sometimes coming across a photograph you love can be more than just a wonderful find. Sometimes it can be a gift. That is how I fee about the shot above by Xavier_Paris. There was something about the model, the lighting, the composition of the shot. I loved. More than that however was the addition of the bandage. To me, it turned a great shot into something even more special.
Through his website PhotoGraphe I was able to contact the photographer and learn a bit more about how the photo came about. I call the shot a gift as the artist Xavier, was generous enough to send on details about the shoot, additional shots of the model Antoine, and the icing on the cake was some video footage from the shoot (see below).
There is such joy in the shots and Antoine's smile is infectious. When I told Xavier that one of the things I loved about the shoot was Antoine's smile he said "That’s true, Antoine’s smile is incredible…Normally I NEVER ask people to smile, but during the shooting I could not prevent myself from asking him to smile and smile again !!!"
Xavier_Paris as he is credited on MM, lives and works in Paris. Xavier tells me he has has been a photographer for almost 10 years but it is not his full time job.
"I’m an aeronautical engineer actually ! I consider myself as being a “full time observer”, both in my company and in my photographic life. Hence, to me, photography is mainly portrait. It’s an encounter with a model, both before and during the shooting. I try to tell (almost) everything into one picture, and as I prefer to put forward the model’s attitude, I always use simple backdrops and grooming. I rarely shoot out of my small studio as I want to believe that it’s the model (and sometime a very simple idea!?) who does the picture and not the techniques, nor any complicated or expensive settings…"
This is certainly the case in Xavier's work with Antoine. Simple background, minimal props. Just an artist bringing out the best in a beautiful model.
Now back to that bandage....
Xavier tells me the shoot with Antoine was planned for a friend of his who had launched a web-site, "Homme-Avenue", who needed pictures for certain products.
"At the end of the day, he left me a complete liberty to shoot whatever I wanted with Antoine…and as Antoine trusted me, we pick-up some simple objects (I keep many useless objects in my studio to improvise shootings!!) and began to shoot theses pictures. I love sports photography and thought Antoine could be a beautiful rugby player: we had the idea to put a simple bandage on his leg: and this is it, Antoine was my rugby-player!"
Antoine looks right at home in this shoot as if he was stepping into a shoot for Stade France. Not only is that smile to die for he has a great body and a face that reminds me ever so slightly of that of Glee's Cory Monteith. Do yourself a favor and check out the video below. There is no sound unfortunately, but it is still a lot of fun to watch!
Thanks so much Xavier for sharing your work with Antoine with FH! The first shot I posted above has joined my list of all time favorite shots! Be sure to check out more of Xavier's work at PhotoGraphe HERE: His MM page HERE: or on Flickr HERE:
