Jean-Christophe Couet (FR)

Interview

Moscow, Russia / New York City, New York (US)

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF: WHAT IS YOUR NAME, WHERE ARE YOU FROM, WHAT DO YOU DO?

My name is Jean-Christophe, I am from New York and I am an artist.

WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH PHOTOGRAPHY AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO IT?

I studied photography and film at The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague at FAMU (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze) in the 1990s. I have always used my camera to chronicle sketches of daily life. Ultimately they are images that become committed to my memory. Those images reveal the details, seen and unseen, that I felt when making the photograph. The beauty in photography is being able to see what is not seeable. There are three cameras that I use: a Leica M6, Hasselblad 500c and a Mamiya C330. With the medium format cameras, I have spent more time discovering color and details of urban structures whilst the Leica is all about texture. The traveling I do for work is motivation enough to photograph. Again, it’s all about the memories.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON, AND—IF THERE IS—WHAT IS YOUR NEXT PROJECT OR JOURNEY?

Currently I am working on an installation consisting of acrylic sculptures, projections and paintings. The paintings are based on photographic details while the sculptures are designed specifically on portraiture.

THANK YOU, Jean-Christophe.