Interview Alain Greloud
I consider photography as being a poetic introspection.
Name: Alain Greloud
Hometown: Paris, France
Style of photography: Narrative and still photography. Otherwise the “Less is more” minimalism motto conceptualized by the German-American architect Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe could be an answer to my visual style.
Type of camera(s): Hasselblad 503 CW and Rolleiflex 2.8 FX
Website:www.alaingreloud.com
What gives you inspiration?
It is first and foremost emotion and a feeling of fullness. But also the nakedness of things and human beings. Emptiness – because emptiness is always full of something -, fragility and simplicity are also great sources of inspiration. As well as literature, travels, nature, light, curves or straight lines, silence, quietness – quietness even more than silence I would say -, a sentence, or sometimes just a word… In fact, my sources of inspiration are many. I am also very interested in the relationship things and human beeings keep. The way they sometimes interact with each other and the “visual conversation” they may have. Hence my particular interest in observing the way space sometimes happens to organize itself so spontaneously and harmoniously. The place your body occupies in that space for instance, the idea of borders and territories – which encompass both visual and symbolic element -, all these are also some sources of inspiration.
What are your influences?
Initially, and esthetically speaking Bernd and Hilla Becher’s photographies certainly strongly influenced me due to their minimalism. However, I myself am more in a narrative process. Other than that, my influences are many : Joel Sternfeld, Stephen Shore, Todd Hiddo, Alec Soth, Rinko Kawauchi, Takashi Homma, Lise Sarfati, Christophe Bourguedieu, Anna Clarén, Janne Lehtinen, Aino Kannisto, Ryan Mc Ginley, Oskar Schmidt… It’s a long list !
Why did you choose these photos?
Although they represent a small part of my work only, I chose these pictures because I have a feeling they perfectly fit with the point I am trying to make here.
What does photography mean to you?
I consider photography as being a poetic introspection, a way of considering the world that surrounds us and that we often fail to see. I love details that, at first sight, might seem insignificant, but that are in fact meaningful to me as they are loaded with beauty and emotion. I like the idea of Asian philosophies that each thing holds its opposite. Hence the polysemic aspect of my photos which leave plenty of room for imagination and meditation. I always try my best so that each of my series, not to say each of my photographies, be an invitation to a journey, whether an inside journey or an outside journey. I like photography just the way I like literature, with all its silences, thoughts, composition, style and magnificence. In my point of view, photography is probably the closest means of expression to literature in the way it has of transcending reality.
Photos:
Copyright reserved by Alain Greloud
