Interview Vivien Ayroles
Photography is my way to express my love for someone or something.
Name: Vivien Ayroles
Hometown: I am living in Paris since February 2010, but my family is in the South of France.
Style of photography: Portrait, landscapes
Type of camera(s): The camera I use the most is a Canon AE1 that my boyfriend gave me for my birthday. I love using my grandmother’s Zeiss Ikon, a pretty 6×9 old camera perfect for black and white photography. I had a Lubitel, but now it is broken. I would love to get a Mamiya 7.
Website: www.vivienayroles.fr
What gives you inspiration?
Friends, family and places that affect me in different ways are the things that give me inspiration. However, a nice light can be a good subject too. At first I was really focused on self-portraits and street photography and I worked in this field until I left Venice, where I spent a gap year in 2007-2008. Then, when I came back to France, I started to find that unknown people were less inspiring than I thought before, and now I rarely practice this kind of photography.
What are your influences?
I’m mostly influenced by photography and other visual arts like movies and contemporary dance or classical ballet. Besides my interest for famous photographers like Dorothea Lange, Willy Ronis or Nan Goldin, I’m daily checking my Flickr friends’ works, like my boyfriend Stefano Marchionini, Traci Matlock and many others who document intimacy through people they live with and their environment. I also really like when photographers take distance from their own lives and approach other subjects with sharpness and with a clear eye. I’m thinking about the works of Stephen Shore, Joel Meyerowitz or Eggleston, and new photographers in the same vein. Literature is important too: authors of the French Nouveau roman like Robbe-Grillet or Butor, and also Marguerite Duras with their feverish and repetitive way of writing. Another influence is Hervé Guibert who was a writer and photographer.
Why did you choose these photos?
I chose these photos because they are a good examples of what I am doing now, a mix of portraits and landscapes. Even if I am currently shooting in black and white, these photos were all taken in 2010.
What does photography mean to you?
Photography is my way to express my love for someone or something.
Photos:
Copyright reserved by www.vivienayroles.fr
