27 June 2019

Interview with Photographer Amélie Laurin

Roland Garros | photo: Amélie Laurin

 
Wimbledon will start in just a few days, and, with it, the feeling that it will not be long before summer is at its pick. The thought that summer will not last forever slowly starts to creep in, making you aware that you must live your summer, not just dream it. A reality check of sorts. And it is not a bad thing. Quite the opposite. But before June ends, I want to take a moment and celebrate, once again, the event that, for me, year after year heralds the arrival of summer. Roland Garros. I revel in those two weeks of tournament leading up to the final, wishing for each day to last as long as possible, as a promise of an endless summer. I sometimes think of the slow red dirt surface that produces those long and absorbing rallies, testing the players’ skill, patience and endurance, under the sun at golden hour casting dramatic shadows on the clay, as a long hot summer day that tests one’s physical and mental strengths.

It is an image that has been, to a great extent, shaped by the photographers who capture this sport’s magnificence on clay and the unique atmosphere at Roland Garros. Amélie Laurin is one of the photographers of the French Open and what I appreciate the most about her Roland Garros portfolio is exactly this overview of the championship that it offers, capturing not just the game and the players’ actions (with the kind of pictures that make you sit straighter in your seat when you see them in motion, or rejoyce in their moments of triumph, or frown when you observe the physical and mental demands of the game on their face and their body), but also the crowds, the mood, the smallest of details, or a fleeting moment of solitude.

Last year, Amélie won the Roland Garros photo prize, but she doesn’t consider herself a sports photographer. Indeed, her work range is very wide, and her travel photography has the ability to make you stop and reflect on what you see. It communicates, with no artifice, the genuine beauty of the people and the reality and uniqueness of the place. It tells a story. It makes you curious and wanderous.

In my interview with Amélie, we have talked about Roland Garros, about Rafael Nadal, about taking, not making, a photograph, about the discoveries and self-discoveries during her two-year long trip throughout the Americas, and about the understated appreciation of the little things.
 

Cori Gauff, Roland Garros, 2018 | photo: Amélie Laurin
The photograph won the Roland Garros photo prize in 2018.

 

Last year you won the Roland Garros photo prize. Can you tell us a little about the awarded photograph?
It was a picture taken during the girls final of Roland Garros 2018. The tennis player is Cori Gauff, an American. She won that match and the title for juniors. She was then only 14 years old, hard to believe when you see her shape. The posture of her body is beautiful and I love her blue suit contrasting with the clay. Her movement really shows the beauty of tennis.

I would like to stay a little on the subject of Roland Garros (I am a big tennis fan). Does the French Open hold a special interest for you that goes beyond your work as a photographer?
Of course Roland Garros is special. It is a very important tournament known all over the world, where the best tennis players in the world fight for the title. Besides, the atmosphere is unique and as good to photograph as tennis actions. Moreover, the French Federation of Tennis staff and the team of free lance photographers are truly great and I have a real pleasure to work with them. It is part of why I enjoy so much to photograph this tournament.
 

Rafael Nadal winning La Décima, Roland Garros, 2017 | photo: Amélie Laurin

 
 

”To me, a good sport photography
has to show a sport action under an unseen
angle or light, or to catch a perfect instant.”

 
 
Which was the highlight of this year’s French Open for you?
Rafael Nadal’s 12th victory was great. And his match against Roger Federer also.

Do you have an all time favourite photo of Rafael Nadal that you took at Roland Garros?
Rafael Nadal is highly photogenic while playing tennis. I have many pictures of him that I like, not only one.

For many, tennis doesn’t seem like a sport that could be the subject of great photographs. Yet, there’s something about the emotion, loneliness and athleticism of tennis that contradicts that conception. What is it about tennis for you, as a photographer, that fascinates you?
I can’t believe many people think tennis isn’t photogenic. The movements are wide, powerful and beautiful. Sometimes the player is sliding on the clay, sometimes almost flying for an instant, and when the sun shines it creates fabulous shadows. Besides, there are so many details you can catch with your eye and the camera, like the tennis player interacting with the ball kids, and many other situations.

What makes a good sports photography?
To be honest, I’m not a sports photographer, even though I won the Roland Garros photo prize in the sport category. Of course I take shots of tennis actions, but I mostly catch the atmosphere of the tournament. To me, a good sport photography has to show a sport action under an unseen angle or light, or to catch a perfect instant.
 

A rare moment of solitude in the stands, Roland Garros | photo: Amélie Laurin

 

How did you get into photography? What is your background?
I started working as a freelance photographer right after completing my studies in a photography school in Paris. I got my diploma, after a two-year course, in 2002, and since then I have done my best to create a network and get clients. I left all that to go traveling for 2 years, and I started it all over again when I came back. At that time, I had the idea of changing work, as I had to recreate everything from scratch, but my interest in photography was too strong and I followed it.

Do you always carry a camera with you?
No. A camera is heavy and big. I work a lot, so I enjoy also not carrying a camera sometimes. One exception, when I travel, I always carry my camera with me, because it inspires me and if I don’t have my camera I see all the pictures I am missing out on.
 

Egypt | photo: Amélie Laurin

 
 
​

”Any place is fine if the people are good.”

 
 
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?
For me, it is take a photograph because I mostly do reports. I capture moments. Sometimes I make a photo when I ask models to pose and I create the picture that wouldn’t exist otherwise. I like both, but I mainly take photographs rather than make.

I often wait for a good photo, even though I’m not very patient. It happens that the frame is good with nice elements or people and a good light, but it is not complete, so I can wait for something to happen, some people to appear, the right light to show up… This can happen in travel photography as well as sport photography.

What is the most important lesson your travels have taught you?
I’ve learned so much while travelling. It’s hard to choose one. I’d say that the main lesson I’ve learned is that people are good. Of course not all of them, but I have experienced that everywhere you can find good people if you are a good person yourself. You need to trust and also have a good sense of intuition to feel the situation.
 

Egypt | photo: Amélie Laurin

 

Do people make the place?
Absolutely. Any place is fine if the people are good.

If you could choose, do you have a favourite moment of the day for shooting? Do you swear by the golden hour?
Yes, that particular time of the day when the sun gives warm colours and long shadows is particularly beautiful. Any time is good, but, if I can, I avoid shooting when the sun is too high in the sky. I also like sometimes when it’s cloudy and the light is soft.
 

The Grand Canyon, USA | photo: Amélie Laurin

 

In this time and age, what do you wish people appreciated more?
I wish people would slow down more and enjoy the simple things.

How do you yourself unwind? Where would we find you when not working?
I enjoy meeting friends. If it can be in the nature, even better. When living in a big city such as Paris, there’s not much choice other than a city park if the weather’s ok, but if I can go away from the city for a bit, I’m even happier.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now (old or new location), preparing to take a photo, where would you want to be?
Difficult question. There are so many places I like. I think I would go to India again. I have gone there 3 times and I loved it. A fourth time would be awesome.
 

India | photo: Amélie Laurin

 

How would you describe India in one word?
Powerful.

A travel writer once told me that the most fulfilling thing about her work is being able to change the false impression that somebody has on a country and people. What is the most rewarding thing about your being a travel photographer?
I agree with that writer. I also wrote a travel book with my sister (Jusqu’au bout de la terre – “To the End of the Land”), and changing the idea that we have about a country was one of the main reasons to write it. It happens also with the pictures. In travel photography, I like too show the beauty of the people. If it can give somebody the will to go and meet people, I’d be happy.

The book is, unfortunately, not available in English, so could you tell us a little about it?
The book I wrote with my sister is about our trip hitch-hiking from the very south to the very north of the American continent, during 2 years. It is a travel diary illustrated with pictures. We talk about travelling as backpackers, as women, as sisters, about how good the people we meet are, about the way we change ourselves while travelling, the feeling of a nomad life, about how we manage to travel with a very small amount of money finding solutions for our needs such as eating, sleeping, moving…
 

India | photo: Amélie Laurin

 
 

Website: amelielaurin.com | Instagram: @amelielaurin
The book “Jusqu’au bout de la terre”, by Amélie and Marion Laurin,
is available, only in French, here.

 

Posted by classiq in Interviews, Journeys, Photography | | Comments Off on Interview with Photographer Amélie Laurin
25 June 2019

Journeys to the Other Side of the World

Why David Attenborough’s stories are the best read for your summer vacation.


 
David Attenborough needs no introduction. His pioneering role in surveying almost every aspect of life on our planet is unwavering. And the fact that, for decades, he has been keeping the whole world keen on anthropology, nature and the wildlife is extraordinary.

I started to read his book, Journeys to the Other Side of the World, a few weeks ago and then put it aside. The moments I managed to steal from a day to read a few pages just did not seem the right setting (simply too mundane) for diving into David’s treacherous stories and adventures. Then, a little while ago, I picked it up again. The setting was different, while on a trip that had been carefully planned to include accommodations as remote as possible from touristy destinations. And when I realised that there was hardly an internet signal on the site, I embraced the experience that enabled me to enjoy David’s travel journal even more fervently. Every morning right after dawn I would wake up without an alarm clock, pick up a relaxing spot on the amenities, before anyone else was up, and have the place entirely to myself, at least one hour to read peacefully, in the midst of secular olive trees and only with the trilling of the birds in the background and the caretaker of the retreat who would wake up even earlier than myself to tend to the garden and water the lawn and the flowers.

David Attenborough writes in a way that truly has the ability to transport you, through his absorbing stories, to another place and time. It was indeed a different place and time, but this book is a vital reminder that there was not too long ago when we did not know much about our world and that we shouldn’t take the knowledge we have today too lightly and for granted. Part of that knowledge wouldn’t have been possible without David Attenborough’s extraordinary passion for going places, for the wildlife and for discovery. And the fact that the young, even in this age distorted by technology, continue to show a vivid interest in his work gives me great comfort and satisfaction.

That said, there are a few other things that David’s travel diary made me reflect upon. It has to do with slow living. With doing something for the benefit of others, too. With remaining curious and free and starting anew each day. With resisting to develop the obsession to possess things that so easily can take hold of many of us. “If I’ve learned one thing in my life, it is that the measure of a man’s riches are the fewness of his wants. I’m happy enough,” says Jack Mulholland in the book, a no-hoper whom Attenborough encountered in Borroloola, in the Northern Territory, Australia. “A no-hoper is a man who has forsworn the comforts of civilization, shunned society and gone to live in solitude,” explains the author. The term however should not be taken (nor is it David’s intention to introduce it) as disconsolately as it sounds. I think each one of us would benefit from affording ourselves to live, if only for a week of summer vacation, as a no-hoper.
 
Related reading: Oyibo: An African Travel Diary / Photo Diary: Torres del Paine, Chile / One Day That Summer: Rome
 

Posted by classiq in Books, Journeys | | Comments Off on Journeys to the Other Side of the World
13 June 2019

Men and Style: Essays, Interviews and Considerations

 

”Dressing interested me then for the same reason it does now.
How you present yourself to the world, how you convey
what matters to you, what you aspire to (and what
you don’t) – these things are never indifferent.
And in the ideal case it’s an expression of self-knowledge.”

 
 
I was introduced to David Coggins’ book, Men and Style: Essays, Interviews and Considerations, by Todd Ritondaro (a regular guest on Classiq) who interviewed David on his podcast. I ordered the book immediately after I listened to the episode and one of the first things that came to my mind after just starting to read it was why is it that there is such great writing about men’s style and so little about women’s style – I think women’s style (yes, style, too, not only fashion) is so wrongly approached. That’s exactly why all the style books in my home are about men’s style. Because that’s where I take my style advice from. Because it is men’s style that has taught me that style is about so much more than clothes. Because it is men’s style and men’s talk about style that have taught me that it is not trivial to talk about clothes. I can not and will not do small talk with my girl friends about clothes and fashion (and I do what David does: “I would prefer that people aren’t able to tell where my clothes are from. And I don’t usually tell them.”) They know where I stand and avoid the subject. But I will, at any time, engage in any discussion about style with my husband, my father, my brother or any of our male friends.

There are many definitions of fashion vs style. And every man and woman with a strong sense of dress and self that I admire is perfectly right in their opinion. But none of them has sounded more true than Glenn O’Brien’s words in the forward to this book: “Fashion is industry; style is culture. That’s why this book is important… It’s about ideas and themes, arts and rituals, the things that constitute culture.” Style is culture. And indeed, that is why this book is so important. It does not teach men what style is, what they should wear and what they shouldn’t. It instead shows that the only rule to great style is authenticity.

With dry wit and self-deprecating attitude, David writes about situations, traditions, rituals, manners, aging, imperfection, and, yes, about clothes, but always in a bigger context. He writes about why he has always driven a car with manual transmission, about the intimacy and pleasure of another person’s company that a long lunch provide in today’s world lived on fast-forward and in the social media hum, about why a man should have enough cash for his evening on the town, about Ralph Lauren, about being “suspicious of any man who doesn’t have a weakness for books”, about the fact that all good things take time. Style is in the details, in the way you conduct and present yourself, in knowing certain unwritten rules.
 
 

“The best dressed men create their own sartorial world
with its own internal logic and controlled anarchy.”

 
 
Coggins’ contributors (some of the world’s most dapper men whom he interviewed for the book) examine their lives, talking about their fathers, childhood, school uniforms, college, mistakes, their first cars, their first crush, drinking, sports, music, cooking. They talk about the examples set by their fathers, about learning from their mistakes, about bettering themselves. Because style is about hard-earned individuality (you are not born with it, nor is it acquired in a day, nor, thank God, can it be bought), it is a long path towards self discovery, it is about refining your sensibility and not about constantly reinventing yourself, it is the slow distilling of culture that, only in time, seeps into our being and gives us a sense of who we are.

Men and Style tells us about how the world views of this group of stylish men (from the author to his interviewees and editorial guests, including Gay Talese) have been shaped, providing the perfect space for them to pass on their knowledge, appreciations and sense of selves. Men and women alike have something to learn from that.

David Coggins is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in Esquire, Interview, Kinfolk and The Wall Street Journal, and he is a contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveler. He is one of the world’s most respected men’s style writers and his second book, Men and Manners: Essays, Advice and Considerations, the follow-up to this one, was published last year.

 

Website: davidrcoggins.com | Instagram: @davidrcoggins

 

Posted by classiq in Books, Style | | 3 Comments
10 June 2019

This Summer We Are Channelling: Jennifer Connelly in Blood Diamond

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly in “Blood Diamond”, 2006
Warner Bros., Virtual Studios, Spring Creek Productions

 
Revisiting some of your favourite summer movies can provide the best style inspiration. The usual likes of Plein soleil, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and all these other films easily come to mind. But there are other movies less obvious at first sight that offer great sartorial advice for the warm months ahead and I will bring them into our rotation, and your attention, this summer.

In Blood Diamond, Leonardo DiCaprio, as Danny Archer, is a South African diamond smuggler, or “soldier of fortune”, as he likes to call himself, and Jennifer Connelly, as Maddy Bowen, is a dedicated journalist who makes him think about interests bigger than his. “She’s about as fiery and feisty as they come,” Connelly said about her character in an interview for Marie Claire. “She has a passion for life, drinks her minibar, flirts a lot. But she’s striving to do some thing good — she’s sort of frustrated by herself and her limitations. She wants to be a toughie, but she’s not.”

Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in Edward Zwick’s film remains one of his best. It’s one of his most singular roles. He explores the complexity of emotions he is capable of and especially a darker side that we didn’t get to see much until Blood Diamond. Too bad the film does not end on the same tough, risk-taking note it starts with and falls into the all too well-known safe Hollywoodian ending, seeking a hopeful and sentimenatal closing.

“I wanted someone who could give Leo a run for his money, who was confident and would not be overawed and would help him raise the level of his game. There are any number of actors who are perfectly talented who wouldn’t have had that effect on him. He sensed that from the beginning, and I saw him sit up straigther in his chair,” the director said about casting Jennifer. “The camera can always tell whether someone knows what they are saying in the deepest meanings, and she inhabits the lines.”
 

Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly and Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond”, 2006
Warner Bros., Virtual Studios, Spring Creek Productions

 
Sharp intelligence, lightness of being, passion for her profession can all be used to describe the character of Maddy Bowen, and Jennifer simply inhabits her role. “You find yourself a good man,” Danny tells her when they part. “I have three sisters. They are all married to good men. I like my life,” she answers. That, is obvious. That she has a commanding presence is obvious, too, even if her clothes have nothing to do with that. They are simple clothes, the kind every journalist in the field is wearing. Cargo trousers, plain t-shirts, chambray shirt, a navy tailored vest she wears over her khaki t-shirt (the most effortless take on masculine tailoring), a stack of bracelets, a metal necklace, a man’s watch. These are utilitarian items a reporter throws on without thinking about them because they are part of the job. But that is exactly where their appeal lies: in their sheer functionality, the well of so many timeless garments.

And it’s true that basic items can always find a place in one’s closet, whether you see them in a film or not. But it is Maddy’s attitude that draws most attention and added interest to her look and makes you want to make it part of your overall style. The minimalism of her wardrobe is something else to reflect on, and something to aim for in this society of consumerism that we are confronting with and which the film itself brings into our consciousness – the hellish reality of a country, Sierra Leone, that serves as source for the illegal diamond trade of the white-collar criminals in the Western world.

But that’s not the only reason her look is worth channelling. I read that Jennifer spent her days off while filming Blood Diamond, which was shot mostly in Mozambique, at a local orphanage. But unlike other celebrities, whose African humanitarian appearances make tabloid headlines, Connelly’s presence there didn’t get any press coverage. It was in fact director Edward Zwick who mentioned it in the Marie Claire interview. And that’s something else I want to channel: live life for yourself without constantly looking for the approval or admiration of others, do good without showing off. “Have more than you show. Speak less than you know.”
 

Jennifer Connelly in “Blood Diamond”, 2006
Warner Bros., Virtual Studios, Spring Creek Productions

 

Posted by classiq in Film costume, This summer we’re channelling | | Comments Off on This Summer We Are Channelling: Jennifer Connelly in Blood Diamond
5 June 2019

French Open Style

Barbara Schett, the co-host (with Mats Wilander) of “Game, Schett and Mats”, strolling the streets of Paris,
Roland Garros, 2019 | photo: Matthias Hauer

 
Although we have witnessed some great matches at the present Roland Garros (Benoit Paire and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Benoit Paire, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka) and more is yet to come (a Nadal-Federer semifinal, a possible Nadal-Djokovic final), and having previously covered some of the greatest players of the game here on the site, as well as the books and art revolving around tennis, there is yet another aspect of my favourite sport I want to bring into discussion today. Off-court style.

You do not have to comply with a strict dress code as is the case at Wimbledon, which, even if you are not an attendee in the Royal Box, still stipulates an unwritten rule that too casual a look is unwelcome, but that doesn’t mean that the French Open spectators don’t know a thing or two about style. Because I have to admit that looking to the stands at the French Open is part of the beautiful spectacle Roland Garros offers every year. Not only is the tournament one of the most beautiful displays of sport, but a seasonal milestone, too. Being the tennis aficionado that I am, I have come to regard the French Open as the unofficial symbol of the beginning of summer. And, for me, nothing says summer better than a crowd of people in Panama hats under the shining sky, transfixed by the tennis players on the ochre clay that sparkles in the intense June light – artist Fabienne Verdier, who created the official poster for the tournament last year, beautifully described how, for her, “Roland-Garros evokes those first warm days that herald the arrival of summer in Paris”. I sometimes think of the slow red dirt surface that produces those long and absorbing rallies, testing the players’ skill, patience and endurance, with a long hot summer day that tests one’s physical and mental strengths.
 

The Panama hat in the stands at the French Open | photo: Amélie Laurin

 
Let’s linger on that image: the king of summer headwear when watching from the stands the king of clay at Roland Garros. The Panama hat. Despite its name, the legendary accessory has its origins in Ecuador and it has since become the country’s most famous handcraft. As with many items that have stood the test of time, the Panama hat was born out of necessity and practicality: the hat woven from Ecuadorian toquilla straw offered the best protection from the sun for the thousands of workers assigned to the building site of the Panama Canal, who were required to wear this lightweight, wide-brimmed straw hat to protect them from the sun. The fruit of unique artisanal expertise, the original Panama hat is made completely by hand, by Ecuadorean craftsmen and women. The weavers take several weeks or even months to create a single hat. The hats are woven from toquilla palm leaves, which have many qualities, such as exceptional whiteness, finesse and flexibility.

But what was it that made this accessory a style game-changer, besides the craftsmanship that goes into its making? It was the classic movie stars, from Humphrey Bogart and Paul Newman to Gary Cooper and Frank Sinatra, and the diverse likes of Mick Jagger and Salvador Dalí, who made it popular and a staple of menswear, and ultimately ensuring it an all-time classic status for both men and women. So, despite Wimbledon’s undeniable affiliation with style, and while the London public may master with ease the sartorial requirements of the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world, the Roland Garros crowd has perfected the effortless and cool smart look, finding the simplest way to dress up for a match in the summer heat at the toughest tournament to dominate for any length of time. The Panama hat instantly elevates even the Wimbledon-inappropriate look of jeans and t-shirt.
 

Barbara Schett, Paris | photo: Matthias Hauer

 
Another Roland Garros point of interest, style wise, if I may venture to say, is watching Mats Wilander and Barbara Schett. Their Eurosport show, Game, Schett and Mats, is quite honestly one of my all time favourites, not just in sport, and about the only tv I have been watching in years. I am looking forward to their pertinent analysis just as much as I am to a good tennis match. I have talked about my admiration for Mats Wilander as tennis player and tennis expert before. Barbara is a former tennis player herself, and the two of them make a great team in front of the camera.

And it so happens that they both display a natural sense of dressing style. Is it a shallow comment from my part saying that? Are their aesthetic attributes really of interest in a discussion about their talent and professionalism? Yes, I dare say. Because looking good is not self importance, it’s self respect, as Charles Hix said, and, I might add, it is not only self respect, but respect towards the others as well. And watching Mats and Barbara, two tennis insiders, always so effortlessly put-together, is maybe to prove once again that tennis is the kind of sport that has always incorporated a heavy dose of individual style, on- and off-court. As Racquet magazine’s philosophy goes, I, too, like to “celebrate the art, ideas, style and culture that surround tennis”.
 

Mats Wilander: @matswilanderofficial
Barbara Schett-Eagle: @babasschett

 

Posted by classiq in A sporting life, Style | | Comments Off on French Open Style