My few words:

When i first looked thru *djailledie's gallery i was struck by the similarity with some scenes from my mind taken from different games, movies, places. Then i noticed the very subtle and hidden layer beyond his imagery seen at first glance. Almost all photos go a little deeper and sometimes darker. There is a certain amount of sincerity from the photographers point of view - which makes him vulnerable thus powerful enough to manipulate the viewer.

So i decided to try and find out more about mr. JD.
You will find below a small feature and 3 of my favorites photos from his gallery with a small comment from me. And also a small conversation via note. And somehow, all revolved around the number 3.

Pls take a look at his gallery and works - and as always with my features - it's guaranteed you'll fav at least 2. (laughing!)

thank you all for reading and faving this.
thank you JD for taking your time for doing this.

enjoy,
c.


The Feature

"people, faces and reflections"





"some of us were also young.."





"when it's all about the concept..."





personal favorites

Meeting with the Stars


incredible contrast between the lively, colorful yet fallen leaves and the live yet faded humans next to them. seen from above this photo reveals all that we miss in our everyday horizontal pov. beauty sometimes lives in the dirt, through muddy streets, trampled by urban stampedes.

Midnight Ride


city of the lost children - the game. that was my first impression. the feel of desolation and gloom was omnipresent, the lonely stairs and bike, the cellar window, the texture and the bleakness - all that was missing were some screams. Although the photo has a considerable amount of calmness with it, the overall feel is one of an asylum.

Darwin


i was a little intrigued by the title of this photo - was it too easy? darwin, evolution...?
3 trees - nature's way of uniting two primordial elements VS 3 "ladders" - man's way of reaching back from where he fell from? the perfect antithesis - the perfect fight - better yet the primordial struggle?




The interview:

c: Good ol’ clichés and shallow things about your likings:

c: asl pls:
JD: 42, male, France

c: sounds:
JD: Contemporary Jazz, pop (yes, sometimes Contemporary Jazz requires too much of my attention)

c: visuals:
JD: Cinema (sounds + visuals), Photography of course.


c: Why photography? What makes you click? – so to speak!
JD: Besides having been travel clicking so to speak for many years when life was letting me traveling, I have always drawn – no talent whatsoever, but I liked it. But when the digital photography era reached me – I am always quite a few years back, so this has to be in 2002 maybe – I realized that I could snap and get the image RIGHT AWAY on my computer. That was a real shock, and I started to shoot almost compulsively. Then I started a Photo a Day project. This taught me a lot, but as the quality of my images was increasing, raising my own “standard”, my capacity to keep up with a “One a Day” pace vanished. I joined dA at that time, to break this Photo a Day habit in a way, and just keep the good days.

This unveils my mindset with photography: Instant result. That’s why my images are not heavily processed.I do prefer spending time with the camera than patting the back of my mouse.

Now, what makes me continue clicking? I have a very involving job – not that much in terms of very long work hours, rather something that has no ON/OFF button as you leave the office. Photography is an alternate occupation for the mind. When I have the camera in hand, in the street, I am really fully at photography. When I am preparing a “set” image, nothing else matters.

Photography is also that I share with my kids. When they are posing for me, when we are working together on an image, they are often as excited as I am. Quality time with my kids is something invaluable.

This also raises the question of the link between photo web sites and photography. How many of us would do what they do, shoot what they shoot, without the web 2.0 / social aspect of sites like dA. I am true to my photography, but there is no doubt that belonging to a web community does stimulate and influence me, for the good most of the time, and for the bad as well.


c: Name the three feelings most present in your photos.
JD: Nostalgia: I am not in a technology “Keep up with the Jones” freak. I wish to live the simple life of the generations before mine. It is a bit of a stretch to be “web 2.0” and looking backward, but that’s part of my balance.

Joy: I can’t be serious for very long. Puns, twists on reality and humor are part of my photography – that comes with captions (in English usually, which is a limiting factor)

Surprise: With a bit of curiosity, it is easy to realize that we are “trained” to see things only with a pre-established point of view, and that other points of view are available to us. Finding these other points of view, behaving in an unconventional way, taking distance with what everybody around you is doing, is something that makes your life so much richer. That can be striking a conversation with somebody in the street, taking the back door instead of the front one, looking up instead of watching your steps. It is a source of joy often, a source of trouble sometimes, and source of surprise every time!


c: Your three best photo so far – in your opinion - are:
JD:
Facing light. This is the starting point of my “gravity” series.
Peur de Rien
Fall Milkyway


c: Name the photo “that got away” – the photo you couldn’t capture.
JD: It is a hard question, Cristian. That would require me to remember the missed opportunities. I carry my photo bag with me ALL THE TIME, which makes that I can never blame it on not having the camera. Sometimes I don’t have the time, sometimes the settings are not right, and the photo is there but out of focus, under, overexposed. But I tend to forget the missed opportunities, I am looking forward to the next one.

Thinking of it, yes, I remember the missed opportunity. For month, there was a graffiti on a wall, next to here, saying “La Femme n’est pas un objet” (No woman as an object, or so). I spent hours shooting people in front of the sign, and I was really hoping for an indecently sexy woman to pass by. I went back 10 times there, spending 15mn each time, waiting for the perfect moment, and one day, the graffiti had been cleaned-up. This lead to this gallery: [link]

And it will forever miss one image…


c: Name three things you want to shoot
JD: a. My colleagues at work OK, now let’s be serious.

a. I want to do more photojournalism. Go to remote parts of France, knock at the doors of the isolated houses, discuss with the people, and make portraits of them. That’s something that I plan on doing soon. Real life, real people looking at me with trust.

b. I guess I wish to have models sometimes. My kids are very willing models, but it has some limits. Having an actress would be ideal, as I could ask her to do more than pose for me. Anybody having contact information for Penelope Cruz?? She was acting pretty well in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Volver.

c. I would like to continue my parodies series – that started 2 years back with the Cinema Paradiso gallery in collaboration with , and continued with my Marat image. I have a long list there…

More than anything else, I need time to make my ideas come to reality!


c: Tell us if there is anything you want to experiment with your photography and you haven’t so far.
JD: As mentioned previously, photojournalism is something I want to pursue, and that I have barely touched.
I have also the feeling that I have just scratched the surface of the possibilities with my “gravity”. Gravity wants us to fall down? Let’s play against it!

c: What is the last artistically thing that really impressed and overwhelmed you?
JD: I see every day here some very impressive artists. But this image
is new to me. It expresses pain, physical pain, without suggesting it with the facial expression.


c: Do you have any favorite photography category you enjoy watching?
JD: I watch Conceptual photography, and I find there very creative artists and minds, with images that make me smile. I have also some acquaintance with portraits of smoking people. Again here, I am missing time to discover new images.

c: Some choices – explanation not mandatory:

c: Film or digital:
JD: Both. I have quite a few film cameras, but the only ones I am using on a regular basis are the medium format – where I am learning. Film is expensive however, because I don’t have my own lab, which makes that I am learning slowly…

c: Color or b&w:
JD: Mostly color for digital, even if I tend to prefer slightly de-saturated colors. Only b&w for film. For some reason, these two choices are the only ones that make sense to me, but I also appreciate the colors of the real Polaroid such as those of

c: Zero editing or heavy editing:
JD: As said earlier, I like the instant aspect of digital photography. I am a klutz when it comes to editing. I don’t even have Photoshop on my machine. I have an old version of Elements, and a few filters. I have never figured out how to use the clone tool – which I should. But on the other hand, I use prime lenses, and thus I have sometimes to crop my images. And most of the time, I apply some global filters, and play with contrast and saturation.

c: Cocktails or beer:
JD: Wine. I am French after all

c: Fastfood or fancy restaurants:
JD: fancy restaurants, for the same reason as above. Almost no fast food. I do prefer having only bread rather than burgers

c: Sweets or sours:
JD: <no answer>

c: Artistic nudes or porn:
JD: Neither one. Real life is superior in that regard.

c: Fish or chips:
JD: No Fish, No chips.

c: Night or day:
JD: Both. I have the chance to not need a lot of sleep. I read at night.

c: Hypothetical situation: you find yourself in the situation where you can take what now seems to be the best photo of your life but with the cost of your photo gear. What do you choose?
JD: That could be the unique opportunity to get a rid of my old 300D

c: Ask yourself the question I forgot to ask. And answer.
JD: Do I deserve to be interviewed by you, Cristian ? Why me, instead of more talented photographers? Well, maybe because I am a bit out of the beaten path, even if the beaten path is better. At least, that’s how I see it. Anyway, I would like to thank you for that, and I invite all those not familiar with your work to take the time to visit your galleries. That will be well spent time.