EXCLUSIVE
Something real.
Not many people know Togo. It's a small country on the west coast in Africa. That's where I'm born. I moved with my family to Paris for my studies.
After graduating in Law and Economics I went on a sabbatical year in South America - Brazil was one the countries I wanted to travel since I was able to read a world map.
From there I discovered my true passion for photography – back then I didn 't know much about the technical side of it, but the enthusiasm and inspiration were there. It came to be a great experience - I saw people and places differently under the prism of my Nikon FE2.
I didn' t speak a world of Portuguese but with my camera I'd established a kind of conversation with people – for a trip that lasted almost a year.
On my return to Paris I was invited to assist a friend in a studio, then I had to take my first steps as a photographer - mostly portraits - photography became my life.
I usually prefer to work with natural light or "available light" and focus more
on the subject. My main concern is to challenge myself to bring a sens of authencity and humanity to my models.
Today I'm working with digital - mostly colours picts – not so long ago I was shooting film - in black and white.
For theses past few years I've rediscovered my native country which I barely knew – it is now like a new land of experimentation.
It's become vital for me to go back there as often as I can - somehow it has certainly impacted my work consciously or unconsciously.
My next trip to Togo will be to complete the work in progress, taking portraits of ordinary people, men at work ,family and friends, simply showing the repetitive and often difficult daily lives.