ATELIER
By Francois Rousseau
After ten years devoted to painting, François Rousseau turned to photography in 1995. Through his personal projects, he discovered Patrick Grainville's novel, L’Atelier du Peintre (The Painter’s Studio) when it came out in 1988. This novel presented him with a myth of Los Angeles which inhabited and mesmerized him for years. He was struck by the relationship of the painter to his models, of different backgrounds, who posed in the studio. It was as if the models had waited to be born and even chosen by the master.
+ Atelier by Francois Rouseau
Today, 20 years later, the photographer whom he has become today, with the help of his models, brought the novel to life. He visually recreated the characters and the novel's key moments. Los Angeles became the backdrop showing the diversity of its deprived yet glorious bodies.
Mikael Karlsson composed the accompanying music for Atelier. “Life Class”, a 25-minute piece of contemporary music for chamber orchestra and is in no way ambient music, but rather, a vital part of the project. You have to check out the video below!
The photos from Atelier are part of an exhibition at the Maison européenne de la photographie in Paris until April 5th 2009. We have for you an exclusive look at the book in the gallery below.
