The genesis of this interview was unusually long.
I spoke to Jacques Mollet about it in February last year, we did it in June.
Almost a year has passed.
In the meantime, Jacques has continued to grow professionally, to evolve as an individual and the interview has followed this life path, it has intertwined and developed together with his existence.
It has evolved until it became what we present today.
Jacques Mollet is the new protagonist of the column dedicated to talents to be discovered.
Jacques studied marketing with the desire to work in the advertising sector but soon realized that photography was the only thing that arouses emotions in him.
And emotions were what pushed Jacques to follow an unknown and (probably) tortuous road.
He bought the first camera and since then – almost ten years have passed – he has never stopped shooting.
He began to approach street style and the documenty-reportage approach remains the identity imprint of his work.
Jacques is curious, he looks at the world with childlike eyes, he seeks beauty and is amazed to find it where others don’t see it.
Hi Jacques! According to you, what is photography?
I think it’s hard to define what we can even imagine as art and photography.
It’s composing, it’s feeling, it’s storytelling. I think it’s a temporal vision that might stay forever.
It’s a combination of souvenirs, references, sentiments, emotions that made us click at one precise moment, tiny moment, and we capture it forever in less than one second.
I think photography is way much more powerful than what we think.
And, of course, you are working mainly as a fashion photographer.
How do you talk about fashion through your camera?
I think what is fascinating with fashion, it’s like the connection with many different forms of art.
When you think about fashion, you can see timeless designers, iconic campaigns, charismatic models, photographers, art directors…
My relation with fashion is based more on the artistic aspect. I don’t really care about specific brands.
My approach is hectic and always try to respect the vision of everyone.
In fashion, there are just a few artists who has a strong vision and and the courage to carry it forward. This is inspiring.
So, even if you don’t like the designer or the brand, you can respect the vision and the intensions.
It’s just so good to see someone with a vision, someone who never let the passion down.
I’m also inspired by some minimalist but powerful images usually, and that’s a constant.
I’m impressed by the way they can be taken, by the composition, by the unique color, by some textures, by some little details that make the difference between a good image and a very strong one.
I always keep in mind that it’s hard to make simple things. Talent make you think art is effortless. Don’t be fool, it’s hard work and a long journey.
When you see a simple picture, you say, oh, “it’s just a nice girl, a nice boy, nice girl, good light and good background.”
But when you try to do it, you realize that there is something, there’s a plus that you have to find for making it properly.
When you think that fashion can be art, like it was in the past, you are able to find the key to make fashion timeless art.
What we are losing today is a vision because everything looks the same.
How could you describe your style?
It’s also hard to answer, for sure it’s moving, it’s evolving..
I would say raw, minimalist and nostalgic.
I try to capture simple moments and make them powerful.
As I said, something simple, but powerful. It’s a bit of a contradiction.
Like finding the good balance between different elements.
I love looking for the good combination, finding the right balance in composition, texture, pose, colour, balance, that will bring pure emotion.
At the end, when I’m looking at a photo that I took, I need to feel something. That’s the only think that matter. If I can feel if it misses something, sometimes it’s just a tiny element. It’s just one accessory, or more intensity in the pose, or one more shadow, I don’t know, the little detail which bring everything.
Actually, It can just be one more texture, and it’s another story.
It’s hard to explain, but you feel it.
Images are feelings.
Some people see the unconscious mathematic behind a picture , and I can understand why. Because It’s a balance of element.
But it’s mainly the sentiment and the perception that make it poetic.
Do you have your own reference?
Yeah!
My inspirations are evolving, and I have my precise taste also.
And I’m also inspired by so many artists and movies,
When I was in New York recently, I had my kid’s eyes. It was the first time, and everything for me was cinematic and pictures, you know? So I loved it. If I have to name few photographers, they would be Alex Webb, Joel Meyerowitz, Philip Lorca Dicorcia. You have also Vince Aung. There are so many great artists.
I think it’s easy to mention Alex Webb, because he’s so genius. The way he composed, sometimes it’s even unreal, the scenes, the color. I think he’s like, that’s why when you see him, you know photography is art, because for me he’s a painter.
You can compare him to a great painter.
Also his pictures stay in mind.
i think it’s what we are all looking for, you know, inspiring others and leaving a mark.
And I can’t help but mention Vivian Maier whose extraordinary work was only discovered following her death, randomly developing some film found in a case that belonged to her.
Her story is sick, she was a simple babysitter who went out into the streets to capture moments of life.
Watching the documentary dedicated to her I was moved.
Everything is like a movie. I love street photography. That’s why I started photography, capturing real moments, documenting an era with an aesthetic perception.
What’s your background, Jacques?
I studied marketing, attending a marketing school both in France and in Spain. I spent one year in Madrid for studying marketing.
I wanted to work in publicity, advertising to express a creative side that I wanted to build.
And I wanted to evolve in that creative field. One day at work I met an art director. He was also a photographer and I started working with him, doing everything except the photography because it was not my job.
I was doing the casting, production, etc.
I bought my first camera and since that day I haven’t stopped.
And I really started a lot with documentary and street photography because there are so many pictures from photography that I have, not in my Instagram. But I’m also thinking more coming back to documenting more and to make a book.
It’s a passion and when you do something with passion you can feel the difference. You can feel the identity. You can feel the vision, the message.
Let’s talk about the series you’re presenting on Vanity Teen Digital, Self Made. Can you tell us something about?
The idea behind “Self Made” is to tell the story of a generation that needs to get moving, to do things, not wait, and not make excuses. It’s also a reminder I give myself. We must maintain the desire to create, to have fun, to share. Today, everything moves very quickly, too quickly. We put far too much pressure on ourselves… It’s easy to get lost, to get distracted, to compare ourselves, to doubt… I think finding your aesthetic, finding an artistic identity, a direction, remains the most important thing. Artistically, if you don’t put your all into what you do, nothing sticks, and people sense it. I greatly respect artists who make few or no concessions, who choose a path and go for it wholeheartedly.
We share much more than we think with images. Whether it’s the choice of subjects, colors, compositions… Everything means something. And we must be aware that all these choices have meaning.
They shape us.
Finally, I would say that we just have to keep a childlike eye and try to have fun.
“Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art”, Ansel Adams said one day.
Is photography a form of contemporary art? How can you contextualize it in 2024?
I totally think photography is not only contemporary but like major art .
Everyone can have fun and take good pictures, but I think it takes years to be a photographer, an artist, and even more to find, as we said before, an identity.
Sometimes the artist I like more is not the most technical, the one who made the most iconic picture, but the one who has a strong identity.
When you have something unique, I really respect that.
Recently, there is one photographer, Gab Moses, he’s coming from nowhere and he’s taking the fashion world for him, but you can feel that it’s historical for fashion.
You like or you don’t like, it’s a fact. It’s good to see new artist coming with a voice. If we like or not it’s not important. It’s always a pleasure to see kid’s vision going big.
I really like people that have their own path and they are sticking to their stories.
I think sometimes it’s natural, sometimes you have to find it, and that’s even more inspiring. So yeah, identity is something personal, based on the internal emotions that are reflected to a vision.
And sometimes you just feel emotion, and emotions are not perfect.
And this makes the difference, this makes the identity.
Jacques, this is our last question.
A letter to your future self.
Be always curious, always humble.
Have an anger to discover more every day. Keep your energy and try to see the world with your child eyes.
I think we have a social pressure to be an adult as soon as possible.
I think it’s good in a way. It’s important to have some responsibilities, but I think so many adults lose their… their curiosity.
Their curiosity, their inner child, their eyes are are fundamental to evolve.
This is priceless, i’m sure.
.
