• Interview: Côme

• Start by introducing yourself 

I'm Côme and I’m 26. I’m a rather small lad with a big mouth. I’m basically a little boy playing with his little toys, from analog synthesizers to retro video games and film cameras.

I was born in the Beaujolais (one of the many wine regions of France) and spent most of my childhood there. I was surrounded with nuns and priests, to the point where daily masses, being an alter boy, prayers at every meal and sharing walls with “brothers” and “sisters” and living among them was just my life.

I took a clean break with religion at the age of 12 and started living by myself at 16.Then it was highschool, university, a year off in Italy and Ireland blah blah blah… At some point I started photography and I’ve been doing it for 5 years and truly only one as a professional.

•  What first got you into photography?

Oddly enough, it was through a project for my Spanish class at university that it all started. Students were given an assignment that consisted in either doing a presentation of a documentary they liked or just making one themselves instead. And although I’m definitely more on the snooze team than the “early bird gets the worm” wacko side of the world, I felt I could do it. That and also because there was no way I could get a decent grade the normal way around. I didn’t have the skills in Spanish and I thought “Ugh better try your luck with a camera, can’t be much worse than your non-existing Spanish skills”. And so it was, I was going to make a documentary, and in Spanish at that!

The theme was simple: Jazz in Lyon. Therefore, I called the few professional jazz heads I knew, hung out in a few clubs and bars where instances of such music could be found, I botched the translation of the whole thing and sent it to the poor Spanish professor!

I had a highly flattering, yet totally unjustified, grade of 18,5/20 that did not at all represent my level of Spanish but rather the length I would go to so as not to be graded on my ability to speak the language alone. She had to give me a decent grade on account of my investment, such was the plan! Nevertheless, as mediocre as this so-called documentary turned out to be, it gave me the opportunity to work with jazz musicians that ended up calling me back! Ironically, I turned down their offer. It was a paid assignment to follow them on their gigs and shoot the whole thing but I was studying for the competitive exam of the CAPES at the time (the thing that enables you to be a full-fledged teacher in France) and wasn’t able to make it because of the exams…

How I got into photography professionally is quite different. I found myself devoid of any credits for the first year of my ongoing master’s degree because of some big complicated administrative farce at my expense, so I set out to change fields and try my luck with journalism by applying to a new master’s at another university. It was pretty demanding with a very low chance of success as only 10% of the applicants remained at the end of the two-phase selection. To even be able to take part in the whole competition, all participants had to have at the very least 1 month of professional experience in a media as a journalist or something that somewhat resembles it. The problem was that I only had 1 month to find an internship (and constitute a huge application file) with zero experience… But I managed to find that media and that’s how I met the people I work with now most of the time!

Anyway, I made it past the first part of the selection process but not the second one, but that’s okay since it wouldn’t have been possible for me with a job on the side! So, I ended up in another master’s degree, closer to what I did up until then and since I found work in the process, all is well that ends well.

Agde Watch

•  What equipment/tools do you use currently? What have you used before?

Some people say “the clothes don’t make the man”, “don’t judge a book by its cover”, “don’t eat too many bananas, that’s way too much potassium and fibers” and although there is at least a shred of truth in all of that, at the end of the day, the gear talk is indeed one to be had!

The first camera I ever bought (the one for the documentary) was a Lumix GX9 with two primes (lenses with a fixed focal distance), a 50mm f.2 and some other lens that I never used. Although it worked very well and did pretty much exactly what I wanted out of it, it did the extraordinary fit of disgusting photography the baby Jesus out of me!

More seriously, I realized that I hated digital photography, or rather the practice that inherently goes along with it: the instant result. And apart from the age long debate on whether “the film look” can be achieved with a sensor and film is just a pretentious hipster excuse to justify the lack of actual skill in the medium… I do feel that film has a look of its own – that it could almost be achieved by digital cameras? No doubt, but that’s just a hell of a lot easier to just shoot with the actual thing. It’s costly for sure but it’s worth it. And above everything else, the interest of film lies in the fact that you don’t have access to your photos the moment you’ve taken them, that your attention is focused on what’s happening around you. It’s a far more contemplative process, it feels more soothing and creative. Yes it gives you constraints, but where there are constraints, there is creativity. The beauty of it also comes with the fact that you actually long for the result and reflect on your work more, you have to wait until the roll is developed.

Plus, I’m a big believer of the importance of knowing as much as possible on the process of creation that goes behind what you do. From the inner workings of a mechanical shutter to the development of the film and printing. The emulsion teaches you about photography in a way a digital sensor hardly can.

There’s also the issue of trends and habits in the medium that was heavily impacted by the emergence of digital cameras. While it did the extraordinary thing of broadening the scope of what can be achieved with a camera and enabled even more people to shoot photos, it came hand in hand with social networks and I feel that it lowered the standards of photography in general, but I’ll touch on that later on.

So I switched to film! I sold the Lumix and bought my first film camera: the Bronica ETRSI with a 75mm f2.8 (the equivalent of a 35mm on a full frame). I absolutely fell in love with it, and fell in love with photography at the same time. The thing with this camera is that it’s a modular medium format camera. It shoots medium format films in the 645 (or 6x4,5) aspect ratio and it’s cheap yet exceptionally performant and solid. The only problem was that it’s a portrait camera… And though I liked doing portraits at the time I quickly changed and felt it was a little too hefty with my growing interest in street photography.

Let’s skip over to the gear that I currently use then: 2 Leica R5s (film cameras) with a set of primes (24mm Elmarit, 50mm Summicron and 135mm Elmarit) and a digital camera, Canon 5D mark III with a cheap zoom.

I had to buy digital for work for different reasons so I decided to go for a Canon EF mount since it’s easily convertible to Leica R lenses that I love and know very well. I try to use my Leica primes over the zooms as much as possible since it’s the only way for me to take the least bit of pleasure out of my work when I can’t use film. I usually opt for the 50mm since it’s the one I’m most used to but really like the wide angle look that the 24mm gives with the added benefit of making it a weapon of choice when it comes to zone focusing in spite of a loss of efficiency in composition, but that’s just me.

When I do sports photography, I have to use auto-focus, long focal zooms but the rest of the time I stick with my manual focus, wider angle primes.

I bought two Leica R5s, one silver, one black to be able to shoot both Black and White and colour at the same time if need be (the different colours make it easier to tell which is which).

The best-case scenario is when I can get away with popping out the Leica with the nifty 50 sticked to it and leaving the rest behind, it’s the most compact, comfortable and satisfying combo to my taste.

In terms of film it goes:

- Colour: Portra 800, Cinestill 800T, Portra 400, Superia 400, Provia 100F

- Black and white : ilford delta 400, ilford hp5.

My favourite of them all being the Superia 400, best bang for the buck. Absolutely stunning results for a 24x36 roll with a rather clean neutral look and a fine grain that is much appreciated at that price point! But it’s damn near impossible to find these days and if you don’t want to sell your mom to your local pimp in exchange for a few Portras, all you’re left with is Cinestill which is everything but neutral looking.

•  Did you take any classes or have any mentors?

I’ve never taken any class but it definitely couldn’t hurt!

When it comes to mentors, I have plenty of them! Whether it be people I know outside of photography or flipping legends such as Martin Parr, Susan Meiselas, Bruce Gilden, Elliott Erwitt, Marie Ellen Mark… The whole of the Magnum photographers basically…  I’ve recently discovered Lars Tunbjörk as well, and what an awe-inspiring, jaw-droppingly good photographer he was! And another lesser known photographer whose work somehow resembles that of Lars is Steven Ahlgren, with his book entitled The Office. It’s about cubicles and other type of stern offices in the U.S during the late 80s and early 90s and most of it is shot with a flash. I’m obsessed with flash photography. Especially when we’re dealing with candids! But not exclusively, of course, I just love a good plane, even spreading of the light across the frame and roaring colours with almost no shadow. With black and white, however, I don’t mind a little bit of intrusion of shadows to distort and sculpt the subject. Gilden and Cohen are true masters in that regard! You need to see it for yourself, it’s ridonculous!

There’s also a journalist that I work with, or rather, that started it all for me. I can’t really say that I know him too well outside of work and he doesn’t do photography but he taught me everything else: from setting up my business, doing an invoice, so on and so forth… to the work attitude and meeting the demands of clients or media… The importance of building your network and how to do it… Everything that goes with the reality of the job pretty much!  

Steven Ahlgren, Lars Tunbjörk,
Mark Cohen, Bruce Gilden

•  Who or what inspires your photography?

I’m gonna be pretty obvious here but I’d say, first and foremost, inspiration mostly comes from looking at what other people do in your field. I’ve talked about my “mentors” and “idols” but it doesn’t stop there. I try and see what other people, who don’t always do that professionally, are able to come up with. It’s also important to reach out to those whose work you appreciate, when possible. The best is when you can meet them in person! They have a world of their own, different tastes and friends with different tastes. They could possibly recommend exhibitions or be exhibited themselves somewhere… Go mingle.

I also feel that there’s this notion that photographers take their inspiration from people they photograph, that they connect with them, that they see through one’s soul and whatnot… I don’t buy that. I’m more a situation kind of fellow. Most of the time when I want to take a picture it’s because the situation demands it. And the few times I’m asked why I took such and such picture, the answer is usually pretty darn simple and down to earth. So much so that I feel I’m disappointing some of them a little. There’s rarely any reason to get deep and if deep one should get, it probably means I screwed up somewhere.

Now there’s also the whole lot of different creative things that can transcend any half-baked dummy such as myself with, namely: movies, music, video games etc… Jim Jarmusch is one favourite of mine with movies such as Night on Earth, Broken Flowers and Ghost Dog. But a good old Sofia Coppola can do the trick too, classic! Now, If you want to get off the beaten paths I have just the right stuff: Napoleon Dynamite, Garden State, Inside John Malkovich… Some made with really limited budget in mind are also great when you’re running low on creativity: Frances Ha, Clerks, Duel… Nothing new under the sun, movies can inspire!

One more thing, and probably the most important: forcing myself to go out and shoot! I don’t do that nearly enough as I should but it’s the most important.

Now there’s also photobooks. Like many people, I’m a huge fan of those. I wish I had the means and space to start a collection but I’m just not there yet… Anyway! Still, I have a few and the presence of a photographer’s work in what it should always be, that is to say the printed form, is second to none. You cannot beat that feeling. It’s important to try it for yourself as well, I think! I’ve recently printed and framed a 140x90cm picture that I took in Coney Island that is now peacefully hanging in my living room and the result, compared to what you get on a computer screen – and don’t even get me started on phone screens – simply makes the world of a difference. Doesn’t always turn out the way you wanted but it’s worth the hustle. So much goes into how photos can look on paper and which paper to choose and the impact it’ll have on the way you perceive it that it’d be a shame not to benefit from the work of masters who’ve done it right and produced a material thing you can refer to when need be. The sequencing of a photobook can teach and inspire a lot as well, there’s a few theories on how to organise the pace of a sequence of images within the constrained limit of a book… So, yes! Photobooks, definitely!

Coney Stilts

•  What is your creative process like? 

Depending on the situation, I’ll either have a vague idea of what I want to achieve before I go and try to get any decent pictures but it it’s not always the case! Sometimes I have to do a little bit a research on a topic: it goes from checking the results on some random google prompts on the matter to browsing through what another photographer did and watching movies too. When I get an idea I’ll usually try to lay it down on paper or on the note app of my phone as quickly as I can.

When I do street photography I usually put on my headphones and rely on the good old Sunny 16 rule and try to zone focus my way through the city.

During winter you barely get any light the whole day through and if you do it’s usually too contrasty with elongated shadows due to the low angle that the sun stays at during most of the day. Then, in these kinds of situations, I feel like black and white is the answer. Although, come nighttime, you can get creative with colours and blurry silhouettes but, unless your name is Saul Leiter, it tends to look a bit obvious and bland… In this case I always fool myself into believing that a good flash can save the day, but I don’t always have stomach for it! I rarely do unfortunately, but I’ll work on it!

When I’m doing sports photography, I usually leave my creativity behind but sometimes I can be surprised so I have to keep something with me that lets me use a little bit of that whimsy when I can! It’s usually nothing more than a camera loaded up with a roll of Cinestiil 800T and a no-good flash but it can stretch to other, less familiar territories… such as using an old Sony VX2100 during a studio shoot of some famous football players… Nothing too original I’m afraid but interesting still and, most of all, fun to use! Sure you look like an idiot in front of everyone with that in hand on set but it’s important you trust your guts and stand your ground! Even if it turns out to suck. And, oddly enough, people usually end up liking you for these very things and tend to ask for more.

Little Ballet Girl

•  What kind of jobs/projects have you done with your photography? 

I have worked with jazz bands (how it all started), I have worked in sports quite a bit although it’s not really my area of expertise and I’m starting to get more and more gigs related to theatre and other things that lean a little more towards culture. I’m currently on two different projects that will keep me busy until the end of this school year with an exhibition at the end of both. It’s a little bit of pressure but it’s exhilarating. There’s that and a few other things here and there that come and go.  

Paris, Opéra

• What part of photography gives you the most joy? And the most pain?

Street photography is obviously the most satisfying, low-pressure thing that I do. There’s no money involved, no responsibility… Pure pleasure! Then it’s doing photography as part of your own exhibition. There’s a little more pressure, responsibility and money involved because people have gambled on you but it’s so rewarding and it’s such a privilege! After that comes photos that you do for the press. It can be a little frustrating because they’re hardly ever your best ones, if not your worst but it’s a nice feeling to know that you contributed to something that gets to be published, even if it’s the silliest things.

Ok now let’s get on the darker side of the job… There’s photos you have put your heart in, for which you have done the impossible and worked your arse off (pardon my French) to get out but because of some conflict of interest with sponsors and whatnot, they won’t be used and you cannot even use or show them to anyone…

The one that takes the cake is ANYTHING that has to do with to social media. I do not care for it, I cannot stand it, it’s a pain of every minute, of every day, of every month of every year! It is the place where creativity goes to die and yes I’m a bit intense and I have a bias but I just want to say NO MORE! It’s actually the reason why I feel that I might stop. If it keeps on revolving around that too much, I’m gone! It becomes the worst possible job ever because it takes something you’re passionate about and it crushes it into millions of shallows little pieces of irrelevant idiotic things.

But I’m talking professionally here. During my spare time, I don’t mind it. It’s not great but I don’t mind it.

Poodles Padova

• What are your future projects?

I have a trip to Japan coming up! My partner and I are planning on adopting a rescue dog when we come back, so that’s a pretty big deal!

Photo wise, more of the same thing I guess! But that’s good news!

• How has traveling impacted your photography?

It told me a little bit about the mindset I have to get into in order to be able to shoot. It sounds a bit corny but it’s then that I realised just how difficult it is to shoot when the self-esteem isn’t at its peak. I need to get my mojo on otherwise nothing happens!

Blurry Adèle on the Manhattan Bridge

• What would you recommend to people starting out photography?

If you want to earn a living doing it, have guts! I feel like the most difficult thing is to find a way in and the best, easiest way to achieve this is to find an internship. It’s of course much easier if you know someone respected in the field to give you advice and allow you to contact people on their behalf. Or at least, that’s how I see it based on my experience. Things can be different from one another, I guess.

Avoid working with people you know as much as possible or set some clears boundaries. Strictly professional is always better.

And I regret to say it but, before you get into photography and plan on making any sort of income out of it, try to imagine how different your life would be if you lost the taste for it.  

• What socials/links can people follow to see your photos?

Haha I suppose I didn’t make the best promotion for my Instagram account but if you want to check it out nonetheless it’s @bronicaportraits

Follow Côme

 Instagram • Portfolio