Classiq - An online journal that celebrates cinema, culture, style and storytelling.

20 May 2025

“Drawing is a way to resonate on the same frequency with the world”: In conversation with artist Léa Morichon

Left: ”Canopée”, oil painting on bamboo paper. Right: Léa Morichon x Louise Misha collaboration

Art by Léa Morichon

Canopée, spare and abstract in the use of colour and form, but with blue strokes of colour pulsing outward. Méditerranée, with the colourful, playful and flowery framing of the delicate simple line drawing of the two portraits, conveying emotion and serenity and bringing a warm summer light and a hint of fresh summer breeze. Or the vibrating Série rose oil on linen paintings… Each piece holds true to Léa Morichon’s vision as an artist, in that it expresses interior tranquility, a temporality, a present-mindedness and meditative energy that are flowing in her art.

Léa’s creative collaboration with the fashion brand Louise Misha is, too, unsurprisingly, less about fashion and more about feeling, rooted not only in an aesthetic sensibility, but also in an unhurried approach to life and art. Seizing the moment in its fullness. Feeling therefore creating in her own rhythm. Making space to explore a new idea. Making art that is involved in the real life. In a world that is buckling under the weight of uniformity and technology, this renewed sense of appreciation for art – to be seen in person, to be held, to be felt, to be tangible, to be worn – is invigorating and grounding. It invites the viewer to be curious about oneself, about the world.

In our interview, Léa Morichon and I talk about us humans’ relationship with art and culture, her childhood fascination with her mother’s vintage fashion posters, finding inspiration in dialogue and shared vulnerability, and about natural light as an essential element to her artistic process.

”Someone, someday, may come across my drawings.
They will exist in the real world.
Seeing artworks in person nourishes you
in a very different way.”

”Méditerranée”

Left: Série rose no. 1, oil on linen. Right: Série rose no. 4, oil on linen

Léa Morichon x Louise Misha collaboration

Léa, without trying to explain art, which I really don’t like to do, I would like to start by saying that looking at your work – be it your paintings or your collaborative projects with other creatives – has this calming effect on me, and this comes not just from it aesthetically, but it somehow feels that you have found this natural rhythm in putting out there in the world only what makes sense to you. What has your creative path been like? Has drawing always been part of your life?

Thank you so much, I’m touched that my art evokes such a feeling in you. It’s truly my Ariadne’s thread, what I deeply seek for myself. When I paint, I try to reach my center — the most honest and natural part of me. Our world is a complex and intense place, and painting, for me, is a way to connect to life and to what truly matters. It’s a way to resonate on the same frequency with the world. I started painting when I was 5, then stopped between the ages of 15 and 30 due to my studies and work. I used to draw a lot back then, but it was mostly for commissions or applied arts. My personal formal exploration is actually very recent. This turning point is deeply fulfilling and rich.

“I need to live and feel things in the real world
in order to paint. It’s really like the tides,
constantly in motion.”

What is your earliest drawing memory? And did you have any favourite illustration books as a child?

When I was a child, my mom had a book on vintage fashion posters. I was so fascinated by this untouchable world. I grew up in the countryside, so this glamorous universe was completely new to me.

You grew up with your mother’s vintage fashion posters. You have now collaborated with fashion and perfume brands. What was that experience like?

I adore this part of the collaborative experience — meeting new people and sharing ideas. Fabric has always been a source of inspiration for me. I love seeing a drawing come to life on a person. Fashion carries a certain lightness that brings a sense of ease and freedom.

Léa Morichon x Louise Misha collaboration

Do you mostly draw and paint from real life? And what ignites your imagination?

I work based on my emotions and what I feel. I’m like a sponge — I need to live and feel things in the real world in order to paint. Then I need to be very isolated and in a quiet space for it to come out. And I go through the same cycle again. It’s really like the tides, constantly in motion. The movement has a calming effect on me.

Do you have a favourite quiet space where you paint?

Yes, I’m very lucky in that regard. I really need a peaceful space to create, and I have a wonderful workshop with lots of natural light.

“I need a peaceful space to create.
For me, natural light and nature are essential.”

Quite a few artists I have talked to have told me about natural light as an important element for their creativity, for thriving in their art. Is that true for you? Or is there any other element that must be part of your work space or artistic process?

For me, natural light and nature are essential. When I look out of my window, I see my garden — it’s like a visual breath of fresh air.

And where does an artist call “home”?

Home… an environment where you feel at peace.

What is the best thing about working with your hands?

Imperfection, the joy of truly feeling alive. And the quality of deep focus. Sometimes I work for six hours straight without even noticing time passing.

The search for gesture is one of the most beautiful things that exist for human beings. Especially in our new world — hyperconnected yet disconnected from the self. To me, it’s vital and visceral for a human to stay connected to touch, to the body, to movement, to feeling through the body. It simply brings happiness, because it’s part of our true nature.

You like to work with natural materials and fabrics. We are so used to screens today and even seeing art made on screens (art made digitally or not) instead of an art gallery or museum or in a book. How important is it for you for your art to be tangible?

It changes everything. I give time to something that may last. Someone, someday, may come across my drawings. They will exist in the real world. They will see that the light changes from one angle to another — and maybe it will do them good to see that. Maybe they will even want to touch it.

Seeing artworks in person nourishes you in a very different way. There’s a proximity: you’re right next to the other human who created this object. And no matter the time — you’re simply next to each other.

”Inner Mystery”, inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman”

I like this idea of proximity being the source of inspiration and motivation in each other. It reminds me of Gabrielle Vincent – I did an interview with Fanny Husson-Ollagnier from Fondation Monique Martin and she told me that rather than being influenced or inspired by other artists and writers, she liked to exchange ideas with artists from other fields as she exchanged letters with the French writer Daniel Pennac for about ten years; he was asking her what she thought of his texts and she was asking him about her drawings. What is your way of seeking inspiration?

I completely relate to that idea of proximity as a source of inspiration. For me, inspiration often comes through dialogue and shared vulnerability. One of my best friends, Elke Foltz, is also a painter — we’ve known each other for over 20 years. We regularly exchange ideas, as well as doubts and questions, which keeps everything very real and alive. I also find a lot of inspiration in many other fields, especially photography and books.

“For me, inspiration often comes through dialogue
and shared vulnerability.”

And a few of your favourite photographers and books would be…

Romain Gary – The Kites, Gloria Steinem, Colette – Green Wheat, Bell Hooks – All About Love, Clarissa Pinkola Estés – Women Who Run With the Wolves, to name just a few… Books are truly one of the most beautiful things that exist. There’s so much to read — a single lifetime isn’t enough. Maya Angelou is also a tremendous source of inspiration.

As for photographers, I really love Elina Brotherus, Richard Avedon, Jacques Henri Lartigue.

Léa, one last question: In this time and age, what do you wish people appreciated more?

It might sound a little blunt, but the truth is, in the end, we’re all going to die. I just wish people would focus more on what really matters — kindness toward others, simplicity, care, and a genuine curiosity about one another. Less judgment, more effort to understand the other.

Thank you, Léa, for this wonderful talk.

Website: leamorichon.com | Instagram: @lea_morichon

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Jacques Henri Lartigue, the ultimate Peter Pan of photography:
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When art meets fashion: In conversation with Marguerite Bartherotte

“I’m Still Here”: Interview with cinematographer Adrian Teijido

Posted by classiq in Art, Culture, Interviews | | Comments Off

15 May 2025

A matter of mistaken identity and striped jerseys

Brigitte Auber and Cary Grant in “To Catch a Thief”, 1955. Paramount Pictures

To Catch a Thief was the first film Hitchcock shot on location, in the South of France. It was also the film that brought Cary Grant back from retirement and it was Grace Kelly’s last film, before becoming Princess of Monaco, which ended her acting career. It had humour, suspense, dry wit, glamour, two stars together on screen, and two of those characters – played by the wonderful Jessie Royce Landis and John Williams – that are often present in Hitchcok’s films, the kind that provide a comic relief. The film is also, at first sight, a somewhat lightweight story for Hitchcock. But… “in spite of appearances, once more Hitchcock remains absolutely faithful to his perennial themes: interchangeability, the reversed crime, moral and almost physical identification between two human beings,” as François Truffaut remarked.

Only this time, the almost physical identification is between a male character and a female character. Once again, I have to agree with Truffaut and admit that “I am sure that it is no accident that Brigitte Auber resembles Grant and wears an identical striped jersey: blue and white for Grant, red and white for Auber”. I have already covered Cary’s casual look from the film, a little less his trademark than the suit, but one which he excelled at again: striped jersey, white polka dot red foulard, pleated trousers and loafers. It is the sweater and silk scarf, however, that are the surprise element here. They were a unique pairing, for Grant himself and for the period of the film. Seven decades on now, and we still marvel at it.

“To Catch a Thief”, 1955. Paramount Pictures

Cary found the pullover and scarf in a local shop on the French Riviera where the film was shot. It’s a look that sets him and his character apart. There’s something mysterious about that scarf, something he doesn’t want to reveal – he’s a former American jewellery thief trying to escape the shadow of his past and when a new wave of jewelry robberies occur on the Côte d’Azur, which is now his backyard, he has to come out of retirement to try to prove his innocence. The pullover fits the shady nature of John Robie. Costume designers usually avoid orizontal stripes, because they vibrate on-screen. And they do here, too, “but they are mesmerizing on Grant, even a little dizzying if you stare at them too long, an effect that is right in step with the character he plays: they keep you slightly off balance,” remarked Richard Torregrossa in his book, Cary Grant: A Celebration of Style.

Robie (to Danielle, on the boat, while trying to escape the police): Hey, you’re getting us wet.
Danielle: It must be true what they say. Cats don’t like water.
Robie: I’ll thank you not to mention that word again.
Danielle: Oh, a man shouldn’t regret his past.
Robie: I only regret one thing, that I ever took the time to teach you English.
Danielle: You only taught me the nouns. I learned the adjectives myself.
Robie: The word “cat” is a noun.
Danielle: Not the way you use it. For you, it means excitement, danger, affluence.

Sylvette Baudrot, the French continuity supervisor on the production, recounts in the documentary The Making of To Catch a Thief about how he was very surprised to see Cary Grant, as he was getting into character, in a button down shirt, which was “very modern, very American”, and made a comment on set about how strange a choice he found it, because that kind of garment was highly uncommon in France during the time the film was supposed to take place in. Hitchcock heard him and didn’t want the character to wear that anymore, and that’s why we eventually got to see Cary Grant in striped sweaters. And it shows not just that stripes seem to have been part of the French style vocabulary for ever, but also that Cary Grant himself had a tremendous sense of character, time and place. Baudrot also tells a lovely story about how after the shooting ended, Cary Grant wrote him a letter to apologise for having had to leave without having been able to give him a gift of remembrance and appreciation, so Cary included some cash in the letter for Sylvette to buy something for his liking – he bought a blue and white striped sweater like the one Cary had in the film. And that is what I call the enduring appeal of film costume.

Cary sports in fact two striped jerseys, the first one, grey and white, in the opening of the film. But it is the blue and white piece, shown alongside Brigitte Auber in her own jersey, that reveals the interchangeability of characters. Truffaut continues: “Grant’s hair is parted on the right, Amber’s on the left. They are look-alikes and opposites at the same time, so that there is a perfect symmetry throughout the work, a symmetry that carries over to the smallest details in the intrigue.” Cary wears his jersey with pleated trousers. Brigitte wears hers, sleeves rolled up, tucked in a red knee-length, A-shape skirt, with a front pocket and pleats at the back – a feminine look that is a sign of timeless style, but also shows a sense of character, time and place.

Brigitte Auber and Cary Grant in “To Catch a Thief”, 1955. Paramount Pictures

Edith Head was the costume designer on the production, but she probably was mostly in charge of Grace Kelly’s wardrobe – and Grace was Cary’s ideal leading lady and his sartorial equal. And we know that Cary Grant took care of his own, having Hitchcock’s vote of confidence. As for the Danielle Foussard character, Head may or may have not had a say in her costumes. What is known for a fact is that Hitchcock had seen Brigitte in a Julien Duvivier film and her athleticism convinced him she would be good for the role – she was in fact an acrobat between films, just like Cary Grants had been before starting out in movies, but it was only after she was cast that Hitch became aware of it. One more proof that the filmmaker knew what he wanted and where to look for it. Whether Edith ahead came up with the idea for Danielle’s costume or not, we can be sure that Hitchcok’s supervising eye was ever present. The designer would come up with one legendary casual look a few years later when she would dress Audrey Hepburn in jeans and a sweatshirt in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the only costume as a matter of fact that Edith Head was allowed to provide for Hepburn, as the rest of Holly Golightly’s glamorous wardrobe was famously designed by Hubert de Givenchy. Audrey however beautifully captured the essence of her character and that particular casual look: “The real girl comes alive in the blue jeans. Every woman is an actress in a Paris gown”. Holly Golightly’s true self does come to light in that sequence.

Beyond the intentional character interchangeability, the look-alike between John Robie and Danielle reveals something much more complex: Danielle’s fascination and infatuation with Robie. It also symbolizes an issue of identification connection with her desires: it goes beyond Danielle’s wish to become romantically involved with John Robie; it’s an aspiration to move upward, to be entitled to the riches he has basked in and the social acceptance he has been privileged with despite his having once been a thief. “What do you think of that word, “affluence”?, she asks when they’re escaping the police by boat. “It means wealth. […] Imagining you in your expensive villa, enjoying life, while we work like idiots for a loaf of bread.” Stripes become the universal binder, regardless of class and culture. It’s a representation of how clothing can disguise the complex notion of the self that goes beyond appearance and one of the greatest devices of mistaken identity deployed by Hitchcock in his films.

The Festival de Cannes is underway and this year also marks the 70th anniversary of To Catch a Thief. Two more reasons to celebrate and review this Hitchcock classic.

Brigitte Auber and Cary Grant in “To Catch a Thief”, 1955. Paramount Pictures

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Cary Grant’s Suit: Nine movies that made me the wreck I am today

“The process is the same: You build the character!”:
Interview with costume designer Deborah L. Scott

Posted by classiq in Film, Film costume | | Comments Off

6 May 2025

“Feeling the sport through the images”: Interview with photographer Alexander Aguiar

Joao Fonseca photographed by Alexander Aguiar

Beyond the aesthetic attributes of what is often hailed the most elegant sport, beyond the star power of the best players in the world, beyond the nuanced and off-the-wall images, beyond the stoic grandeur of tennis, Alexander Aguiar’s tennis photography is about the game. It is deeply attuned to the game: the endurance, the frustration, the patience, the resilience, the strength, the athleticism, the artistry, the style, the small victories, the constant recommence, the losing resignation, the winning relief. It is deeply attuned even with how the game can shape the spectators. In his photography, I see the thrill of experiencing the excitement of the sport that I love. Alexander Aguiar loves the game, too. He played it growing up, he is still playing it – a comeback story of sorts. I think that this comes through in his photography. And beyond his understating of and passion for the game, beyond the beauty of the game laced with an insight of what makes the players tick, beyond his photographic abilities and creativity, you feel he is doing something for the sport, that it’s not just a job, and that’s important. There is always a story behind each photograph. And that’s a feeling that cuts through his tennis photography, Tour de France reportage and sports portraiture alike.

In our interview, Alexander and I talk about his growing up playing tennis in South Florida, about the quirky players or fringe characters that he liked as a kid, about his determination to build a small library of images to document Brazilian rising talent Joao Fonseca, the one thing that photographers in sports are often guilty of, and about one of the best places where people can thrive outside.

Joao Fonseca photographed by Alexander Aguiar

Can we start with tennis? I am passionate about tennis and I can pore over your tennis photos without ever tiring or wanting to get to the next one. They are so fresh and authentic and they always make me think of the game first, not the best players of the world being featured in them. What is your relationship to tennis? Does it hold a special interest for you that goes beyond your work as a photographer?

Of course we can start with tennis!! It’s actually where sport started a bit for me as well – I grew up playing tennis somewhat competitively, then took ten years off, and now have been addicted again for the last 5 or so years. I trained at academies in South Florida through to 11th grade or so, and I’m now back to playing 4-5 times a week. Some of my first photos in sports were taken as a kid, while running around the Miami Open (then called the NASDAQ) and documenting young legends like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marat Safin, and other favorites of the early 2000’s. When it comes to my photography career, I’ve always tried to keep tennis and photography apart (something like a separation of Church and State), but lately I’ve been searching for some new life in photography and have been focusing on shooting more tennis to enjoy things a bit more. Your compliments about feeling the sport through the imagery means a lot to me – I’d like to think that my thousands of hours on court as a tennis player help with that. While I’m guilty of it too, I think a lot of photographers will often shoot jobs in sports despite not being very familiar with the sport… and it shows to the true enthusiasts who see the images. I feel like my experience playing tennis contributes to my eye when deciding on certain angles, moments, and movements that are special to the game, and I feel like I can have somewhat of an authentic POV in the sport.

”I feel like my experience playing tennis contributes
to my eye when deciding on certain angles, moments,
and movements that are special to the game.”

Playing tennis, running around the Miami Open and documenting Rafa (my all-time favourite), Roger and Safin (loved his game), it really can’t get any better than this. And you are absolutely right, your familiarity with the sport does come through in your photos and I sensed you must have at least played or loved the sport very much. I wish more photographers who photograph tennis played tennis. I feel that so many focus on getting a good angle, or a good shot of a spectacular move, but often times emotion lacks. There is narrative in each of your images and I just love that, it does bring the viewer closer in, it’s really an immersive feeling. Did you study photography?

I didn’t, it’s something that I somewhat stumbled into accidentally through my first job. It wasn’t on the job description and was never discussed in interviews, but the football team I was working for gave me a camera before my first day of work and I was somewhat tossed into the deep end of the pool with it. I remember reading the camera manual in my hotel bed the night before starting the job, because I had never used a DSLR before. It was a Canon 70D if I remember correctly.

Aryna Sabalenka, Miami Open, photographed by Alexander Aguiar for Racquet Magazine

”To me, the photographs that feel composed and nuanced
in live sports are usually the ones that catch my eye.”

Carlos Alcaraz, Miami Open, photographed by Alexander Aguiar for Racquet Magazine

Photograph by Alexander Aguiar for Racquet Magazine. Miami Open

You have recently photographed the Sunshine Double. What was the highlight for you of this year’s Indian Wells and Miami?

It was my first time at Indian Wells and I absolutely loved it. We don’t have mountains in Florida, so whenever I’m around them I’m always in awe. The grounds are incredible and the tournament is run impeccably – I would totally recommend anyone interested in going to check it out. My motivation behind going was mainly to shoot Joao Fonseca, a rising young talent from Brazil. He’s still very young and I don’t like to put too many expectations on a player’s career, but even without looking into the future, it’s hard to not be amazed by his game as it stands today. I actually took a road trip to Cary, North Carolina to watch him play in a Challengers Event (yes, like the movie – it’s an entry point into the pro tour) and also took a day trip to watch a qualifying match at the US Open last year (I flew in the morning and flew right back that same evening). It relates to the images I took as a kid of Rafael Nadal in Miami in 2005, but there’s just something exciting about shooting a young player who appears to have a bright future ahead. So with all that said… Yes, I made it a point to shoot him in Miami as well this year! I’m building a small library of images to document his career when I can.

”My motivation was mainly to shoot Joao Fonseca,
a rising young talent from Brazil.”

Joao Fonseca is incredible to watch and I am happy to hear you are determined to document his career. What about the women’s tennis? Is there any young tennis player that has captured your interest?

Mirra Andreeva is a lot of fun – she had an early presence on tour as a teen and seems to be under great guidance with Conchita Martinez as her coach. She’s so fun and “youthful” – I think her personality brings a fun element to all of her matches and to the tour.

What player did you look up to the most when you were playing tennis as a kid?

I had a handful of players I liked – sometimes the quirky ones or fringe characters. I liked Fabrice Santoro, Marat Safin, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Paul-Henri Mathieu, and of course the greats: Federer and Rafa. I feel like I have an appreciation for all players in that era, because it’s the era when I followed tennis religiously. I can be talked into being a fan of anyone… David Nalbandian, Nikolay Davydenko, Gilles Simon—they were all great.

Will you be shooting any of the clay court season?

At the moment, I don’t have any plans too, but I would love to. Houston looked like a lot of fun, and, of course, the European clay swing is awesome. Monte Carlo is probably my favorite tournament on the calendar… I’ve been to the grounds once, but not during the tournament.

Photograph by Alexander Aguiar

What makes a good sports photograph?

I’m not sure I can answer that one for everyone! But, in my case, I always appreciate sport images that go beyond button pushing. A lot of my work (including commercial athletic imagery) is controlled in a photoshoot setting, and I’m always reminded how tough it is to get memorable images while shooting live sports. Sometimes there are natural moments that happen that can make a frame fun, but often times it can be difficult to get things just as you want them. To me, the photographs that feel composed and nuanced in live sports are usually the ones that catch my eye, while photographs that feel documentary and alive in photoshoot settings are the ones that end up being my favorites.

Do you always carry a camera with you?

At certain points in my career I have, but lately I haven’t been. I’m not great with an iPhone either, so most of what I do is my phone is more utility than creative (like taking a picture of a parking spot to remember where my car is). There is something to be said about having a camera on you though, because there are times in my day where I’ll see something that I want to record as an image and sometimes regret not having a camera on me. I feel like I usually have a camera with me when I’m feeling inspired to shoot more, but I’m not too hard on myself when that isn’t the case.

Photograph by Alexander Aguiar for Racquet Magazine. Miami Open

”Sometimes I like to add elements of street photography
or portraiture to sports work.
Getting outside of that purist box
helps bring some more personal voice to the work.”

Is it make or take a photograph? Do you wait for a good photo? In this sense, is, for example, sports photography (where speed of reaction is paramount) different than travel photography or other kind of photography?

I haven’t thought about my official stance on make vs take before, but I suppose the main difference, for me, is in the intentionality of an image (more intention would lean towards making, while less intention would lean towards taking). Sports photography can be different than others because of anticipation, like you mentioned – understanding movement patterns and the flow of an action are important to get an image just how you want (which goes back towards making vs taking). But with that said, I feel like my sports photography has gotten better as other parts of my photography skillset improved. Sometimes I like to add elements of street photography or portraiture to sports work, which can help blur the line between documentary and prescribed images. I feel like shooting pure sports photography can be a bit limiting, especially when couped up in a photographers pit with a dozen other photographers shooting with the same lenses, cameras, and angle as you. Getting outside of that purist box helps bring some more personal voice to the work.

Yes, I completely agree about that element of surprise. It’s the atmosphere surrounding it or how it can impact other aspects of life and culture. Which brings me to the Tour de France. I love the mountain, as I do tennis, and so there was so much more I was interested in when watching it, not just to watch my favourite cyclist, Jan Ullrich. You have photographed the tour and again your storytelling is so complex, succeeding to also capture the beauty and fascination with this legendary sports event. Tell me a little about that experience.

Well I’ve shot the Tour de France twice – I did it once in like 2019 or so, and then once more recently. Both were sort of “personal” projects that I wanted to shoot, but after my first time shooting the Tour, I realized I wanted to do a project on it that involved a little more narrative. I ended up going back to shoot a story on the signage on the course that directs the cyclists on where they’re heading while traveling across the entire country by bike over the course of a month. I ended up writing and shooting the story and pitching it to the New York Times, which ran as a full page spread in the Sunday paper. My mom and I traveled on both projects together, so it was a fun experience that we had and something I’ll remember for a long long time.

Why the personal interest in the Tour de France?

At the time I actually wasn’t into cycling at all. I think I decided to shoot it one day in the summer of 2018 while my roommates were randomly watching the Tour de France on TV. I hadn’t paid much attention to it before, but, for some reason, I was captivated by it and decided right then that I would make a project out of shooting it. Sure enough, I was shooting it the next year and then wrote my NYT project on it a couple years after that.

Le Tour de France. Photograph by Alexander Aguiar

Apart from photographic skills, instinct and creativity, have there been moments when you thought that being in the right place at the right time played a big role in the outcome?

I’m sure it has, but I always feel like I can do a better job of putting myself out there and being in the right place at the right time. Maybe it has less to do with actual images, and more with networking and meeting people in the creative industry… I just feel like I can always do a better job at it.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, preparing to take a photo, where would you want to be?

I’d love to be in Europe for a summer to shoot the tennis clay court swing and maybe a bit of Wimbledon!

You live in Miami Beach. What is the best part about living in Miami and which you would miss if you lived anywhere else in the world?

Miami Beach is great – the lifestyle it provides is right up my alley. It’s great to have the beach so nearby, and the area is really conducive to a walking lifestyle. I don’t particularly need a car here, which is great. Besides that, South Florida is such an active place where people can thrive outside. I love being able to play my tennis year round as well as bike, run, and do just about anything else I can think of it. And seeing the sun every day of the year isn’t so bad either!

It certainly isn’t! Thank you, Alexander, for this wonderful conversation!

alexevanaguiar.com | Instagram: @alexevanaguiar

Le Tour de France. Photographs by Alexander Aguiar

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Posted by classiq in Interviews, Photography | | Comments Off

29 April 2025

April Newsletter: Libeled Lady, Lucky Town, and the Racquet book

Photos: Classiq Journal

“I need to be where the light fills me up.
It’s an impossibility for me to thrive creatively without
strong natural light. If you are painting or creating in a way
where this is what feeds you, then you must find a pathway to it..”

Heather Chontos, Classiq Journal Interviews

Viewing

Libeled Lady, 1935
Jack Conway

One of the things that give me the greatest joys is seeing William Powell and Myrna Loy together on screen. Their believable romanticism as Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man movies was novelty to the silver screen in the 1930s. They starred in ten movies together, the most prolific partnership in the history of cinema. “We weren’t acting, we were just two people in perfect harmony,” William Powell described their perfect compatibility on screen. Myrna Loy herself was a novelty to the silver screen of the time. This is how Richard Schickel rounds up her portrait in the documentary Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home to: “She was something new in the movies. She wasn’t a vamp, a vixen or a victim. She wasn’t a screwball, and she wasn’t a siren. She was, of all things to find in the movies in those days, a grown-up woman. Shrewd without being sharp, funny without being silly, decorous without being stuffy, and sexy but in the subtlest, loveliest ways. She represented the distilled essence of her own character.”

I love it that there was a time when comedies were contenders for best film of the year. But, it was another time and it was another Hollywood. And the Hollywood screwball comedies of the 30s were in a league of their own. In Libeled Lady, starring Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow alongside Powell and Myrna Loy, timing and tone transform small, common phrases into witty jokes, wonderful minor characters are indispensable to the story, spontaneity and playfulness are part of life, the ability to laugh at oneself is a trait of character, and a glorious sense of humour comes so very natural – it is so freeing, not censored by the so many labels that are suffocating our society today. The jokes can easily run away with the film, and that’s perfectly okay, but there are a few moments when with just one look, in a flash, that you may miss if you aren’t paying attention, William Powell makes us want to trade a kingdom for his thoughts. Subtlety lies not just in the jokes. And last but not least, there is the timeless, vivacity and glamour of characters and actors alike, in an incredible synergy of costume, character and individual star.

Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol, 2025
Sylvain Chomet

Directed by Sylvain Chomet, the animated biopic about the childhood and career of legendary filmmaker, playwright and storyteller Marcel Pagnol, will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival 2025 as a special screening, before its theatrical release in October 2025. At the press conference on April 10, 2025, Thierry Frémeaux, director of the festival, stated: “Sylvain Chomet, one of the great voices, one of the great hands of French animation, will present Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol. 70 years ago, the Palme d’Or was born, awarded by Marcel Pagnol, then President of the Jury. A jury president who was more of an academician than the extraordinary filmmaker he was, since at the time it was often academicians who were jury presidents. Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol is a kind of biopic of Marcel Pagnol, the writer, the filmmaker, the destiny of a man from the South of France. I’d like to salute Nicolas Pagnol’s efforts in caring for his grandfather, and say that at Cannes Classics we’ll also have an extraordinary restored version of Pagnol’s Merlusse.”

About his unique project, Sylvain Chomet (The Illusionist, The Triplets of Belleville, The Old Lady and the Pigeons) says: “I have always been very admiring of Marcel Pagnol’s work, so I was immediately captivated by the idea of writing and directing a biopic. Originally, I had imagined a film with archival footage and some animation. In the end, it will be an animated film. For me, Marcel Pagnol was synonymous with childhood; like everyone else, I had read My Father’s Glory. In seeking to make a documentary, I actually discovered another person: a genius who aspires to succeed in the fields accessible to him, centered around writing. He arrives in Paris penniless as an English teacher and meets people from the theater world. From struggle to struggle, he writes Topaze and Marius, which launch his career. Then comes the war and the Germans in France, followed by the post-war period. I couldn’t imagine Pagnol without including in the image the young Marcel, and animation allows for kinds of mise-en-abîme where his child alter ego appears to remind him of his memories. The film will transcribe his universe and trajectory. The young child takes him back to the past to relive everything he experienced, where he came from in Provence, then Paris, and his life as an adult and artist.”

Little Miss Marker, 1980
Walter Bernstein

Funny and heart-warming in equal measures. Walter Matthau as the softest father-figure under that tough guy appearance is hard to resist. And a child knows, feels this kind of stuff. And Julie Andrews is two levels above an act of elegance and grace.

The Apartment, 1960
Billy Wilder

One of the finest satirical comedies, The Apartment is different from the formal plot of romantic comedies, old and new. It has subtlety and an adult sensibility, which is what makes the story so good and poignant and real. It is set around the holidays, but there is no family gathered around the festive table, just two lonely leading characters, played by Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, for whom this is a time as any other time of the year, but the fact that the story is set around the holidays adds a touch of melancholy to it all. Therein lies the beauty and strength of the movie – life comes with good and bad, you can’t have one without the other. At its 65th anniversary this year, this film hasn’t dated one bit.

Reading

No clay season without a proper shoutout. From this year’s Roland Garros official poster, created by Marc-Antoine Mathieu, resembling a comics book page, to be added to the amazing collection of artistic posters from throughout the years, to finally diving into Racquet Magazine: The Book, a great book about tennis (and so much more), to watching the documentary The French, directed by photographer and filmmaker William Klein, who was the first to be grated full and exclusive access to the legendary French Open in 1981, during a crucial moment in history, and, of course, keeping an eye as often as possible on the current matches played on clay, from Monte Carlo to Rome and Roland Garros. But back to the book, it is in fact a collection of some of the best writings from the first four years of Recquet magazine. Founded in 2016 to be the voice of a new tennis boom, Racquet is cultish, relevant (both for tennis and top class journalism), stylish, artistic, offering ideas for the appeal and grit of the tennis game, but just as often lessons in life, resilience and strength.

Bread of Angels is Patti Smith’s new memoir, announced to be released this year in November, in the gap between the Europe and American dates of her 50th anniversary tour of her first album, Horses. Her storied life has already been captured in text in two previous wonderful memoir books, Just Kids, from 2010, and M Train, released five years later, and her writing we’ve been lucky enough to celebrate in other powerful books, such as Woolgathering, Year of the Monkey, Devotion, The Coral Sea, but this new memoir will be the most complete. Much inspired by her parents, as Patti Smith reveals, it is a “bright and dark dance of life”.

Listening

The soundtrack: Pretty in Pink

The podcast: Gone to Timbuktu, with Sophy Roberts, season two.

The album: Lucky Town, Bruce Springsteen

Making

SRF LA. An ode to California surf culture, an ode to summer. Because we believe in an endless summer. And because Heidi Merrick is one of my absolute favourite designers and the most stylish one.

Exploring

Artist Heather Chontos will present works spanning the last five years in a new exhibition, “Trove”, in The Hague, opening on May 10th.

Heather Chontos’ art is not planned or calculated in any way. It is what comes naturally to her. She trusts her inner voice. She changes materials and scales, but the medium she chooses, linen, paper, wood, is always in close relation to the natural world – her art exists within it. And I believe this is one of the purest forms of beauty. And to be able to create art like that denotes not only a sense of respect, and even humility, for our world, but the deepest interior artistic enrichment. Heather Chontos makes art. She couldn’t be but the artist she is, fully aware that to exist here, now, means to be who she truly is. She has been herself from the first and the transformations that have taken place in her art have come from within. And I believe this is the highest form of art. She has found the liberty of being an artist, and to pursue whatever it is that there is to be found, her surroundings her open-air studio. When a shift of light, a look, a rare moment occurs, she will be present. Her curiosity always new, her passion not just for art, but for the possibility of giving an artistic language to emotion and life itself. Of her earliest drawing memories, as shared in our interview, Heather said: “My mother had a subscription to many different fashion magazines, Vogue, Elle, but most importantly at the time was Harper’s Bazaar. Thus was the time of photographer Peter Lindbergh who I worshiped. My walls were plastered with images from these magazines and I would add drawings and paintings to them. I loved Nadja Auermann’s face and would add to her images quite often. I was probably 10 or 11 at the time.”

Staying on the subject of fashion, Pamela Hanson, another legendary photographer of the 1990s, famous for capturing an ultrafeminine and adventurous spirit, has a new book coming out this September, simply titled Pamela Hanson: The 90s, featuring the photographer’s muses and top supermodels of the era, including Kristen McMenamy, Kate Moss, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Carla Bruni, Stephanie Seymour, Eva Herzigová, Milla Jovovich, Linda Evangelista. To say I am excited about this time capsule of my favourite decade of fashion photography would be an understatement.

The regulars: The interviews, newsletters and podcasts I turn to every week and/or every month because they are that good. Ruthie’s Table 4 with Ruth Rogers. Fashion Neurosis, with Bella Freud. Craig Mod’s newsletters: Roden and Ridgeline. Soundtracking, with Edith Bowman. Alicia Kennedy’s newsletter. Racquet’s Rennae Stubbs tennis podcast. Gone to Timbuktu with Sophy Roberts. Wachstumsversuche, with Sarah Schill. Sirene Journal, Racquet, and Waves & Woods in print.

Posted by classiq in Books, Culture, Film, Newsletter | Comments Off

23 April 2025

Friends for three days that spring

Romy Schneider photographed by Helga Kneidl, Paris, 1973. For original format and size, visit the Kai Middendorff Galerie

When I asked artist Marianna Gefen to create a portrait of Romy Schneider, she made this abstract painting in two versions, describing it as being “inspired by the mysterious aura, grace and charisma which surround Romy Schneider to this day. She is untamed beauty, determined but fragile, flawed yet real. With different layers, colors, abstract shapes and transparency I wanted to represent these aspects.”

It was cinema that introduced us to Romy and it was in Claude Sautet’s films that Romy came alive in. Her presence on screen was unequalled. Romy, who became the impersonation of “the perfect French seduction”, Romy whose “photogenic power and beauty represented at least for a decade the image of femininity on the big screen”, Romy who taught Sautet that “women were courageous, vivacious”, because before he met her, “he didn’t know how to direct actresses and female characters didn’t interest him so much, except as objects,” Graziella Sautet, his wife, recalled. Incandescent, implacable, imperious, childishly humorous, fiercely independent and free.

In May 1973, the renowned theatre photographer Helga Kneidl spent three full days with Romy Schneider in Paris. Three days in which the photographer shot six films of Romy, the only photographs she withheld when the Deutsche Theatermuseum in Munich acquired Kneidl’s theater photographs and portraits, including all her negatives. Mainly shot in black and white, these photographs are some of the best photographs ever taken of Romy Schneider, of her childish magic and mystical beauty. A timeless tribute, a rare intimacy. These images are about more than pure physical beauty, they go deep into the personality and true beauty of Romy, the ultimate beauty: organic, universal, genuine. Helga Kneidl was a photographer who not only shared the passion of a profession with Romy Schneider, the performing arts, but a photographer who cared, who was curious and aware of people and their surroundings. And when you spend enough time with someone you care about, you start to get a sense of their inner truth. A confiding connection between two souls was created, an intimate communion, and Kneidl was professional enough and lucky enough to be there and capture this inner life movement, this feeling of existence, and share this incredible visual narrative that will not age.

MORE STORIES

Timeless Yves Saint Laurent: Romy Schneider in “César et Rosalie”

Once upon a photograph, once upon a lifetime: Alain Delon by Jean-Marie Perier

The searing style of Jacques Deray’s “La piscine”

Posted by classiq in Photography | | Comments Off