These photographs from France’s Yves Bigot seem to capture a silence that’s much more dominating than the chaos that surrounds it. Whether it’s a cropped head or a wide open beach, the impression is that time has exhausted itself. We asked Yves to fill out our questionnaire via email.
What else do you do besides photography?
I own my own graphic design business. I started
photography 4 years ago, to get back in touch with the feelings I used
to experience when drawing and hand-printing; it was a way for me
to look at the world again. I also contribute to an online magazine, Square Magazine, dedicated to
the medium photographic format and I also work on a voluntary basis for
an association that publishes photo books.
What does beauty mean to you?
It’s all around us and we must take the time to look at it. The
subject of an image is not really important; only the point of view
counts.
What movies and books come closest to representing your point of view?
I like Film Noir, German Expressionism, Westerns and Sixties movies: Antonioni,
Ford, Hitchcock, Welles, the Nouvelle Vague films. The list is too
long. What I like is the atmosphere of such movies. More recently, I’ve
fallen in love with the Cohen brothers, James Gray, Scorsese,
like many people.
Books are really important to me; they are
probably the reason why I do this. I love books for their
content as much as their design. I own a lot of art
books, exhibition catalogues and art essays. 50s and 60s American and
European literature influences me the most—Fante, Pérec, Brautigan,
Kerouac, Queneau, Moravia, Buzatti. Their vision of everyday life
is unique.
What music are you listening to these days?
There are two types of music: good and bad. Depending on how I feel at any given moment I’ll listen to Sonny Rollins, Lalo Schiffrin, the Residents,
Debussy, Joy division, Henry Mancini, Sufjan Stevens and LCD Sound System in the course of a day!
Where do you live and how does that affects your work?
I live in a little town in Brittany, France. The sea and beautiful
countryside are not far, so I love to get out of my car and walk alone
and look around. I do most of my photography while traveling for
business, notably in Paris. My images allow me to feel out of the world and alive.
