Photography Focus: Eric Bascoul
Recently I was lucky enough to
find myself in Paris, and went along to an exhibition by French photographer
Eric Bascoul with a friend who had been invited by him at a previous meeting.
As the result of the artist winning a competition, he was given the use of the Centre Des Arts Holistiques accueil on Rue Paradis in which to
showcase some of his work. The environment was very relaxed and informal (we
took our shoes off upon entry!)and the man himself was wandering around telling
people about his interests and experiences, which produced a welcoming vibe.
Bascoul’s style is very simple, modern
and fresh, using local people and places as inspiration for his pieces. In his
photographs such as my personal favourite, ‘Flux’, he uses bright injections of
colour and blurring techniques to make mundane, everyday occurrences like using
an escalator, riding a bike or jumping on a train appear interesting and
beautiful. He makes a point of not individualising the subjects that appear, by
taking their picture from behind, or blurring out their faces. Rather than for
issues of privacy, he commented that this was to stress the anonymity of the
public to observers, and also produces a more natural result, as when using a
subway for example; it is only the back of people that a person sees.
Another of his projects focuses on the
reflections of things and people created in puddles and areas of water in the
city. He joked that he was very lucky with the success of these, as he had a
limited number of shots available due to his battery pack freezing in the -15
degree temperatures that he worked in!
Drawing a conclusion on his work
from these two examples, it could be assumed that all of Bascoul’s photographs
appear rather abstract and obscure, but that is not to say that that is the
case for his entire portfolio. His piece entitled ‘Fata Morgana’ is more
impressionistic in style, and shows a man viewing a bridge from the riverbank.
Upon chatting with him about his
methods, Eric said that he doesn’t look through the lens whilst taking his
photos, as then it gives his work a freedom that wouldn’t be achieved if he was
trying too hard to get the perfect shot.
The photographer, who is from
South-West France originally, has recently been awarded a prize by Nike and the
magazine ‘Photo’ for his work, meaning collaborations with French publication
‘Liberation’ as well as ‘Cosmopolitan’ are currently in the pipeline. All of
the pictures portrayed here are available to view in collections at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
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