petits papiers

Blue is the theme of solitude

For the first time, my work is published and now "touring" with the Band Ergo. Their new Album Multitude, solitude is out and i am very proud to have my artwork paired with their work. Below is the series chosen; They are {for those familiar with Brooklyn} the very recognizable stark buildings on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg. Although the neighborhood is becoming highly populated, this strip of old factories and warehouse buildings is for some reason staying impeccably deserted at times, especially on a cold & windy day. The CD booklet also include photographs of this session. If you wish to purchase the album, please go directly to their website. For those interested in prints, please contact me through this blog. You can view a wider spectrum of my work by clicking here.

Voici donc la série choisie pour l'album Multitude, solitude du groupe Ergo. Le CD est désormais en vente. Je suis très heureuse d'avoir contribué au projet à travers une série composée de rues désertées un après-midi de novembre dans le cartier de williamsburg, ici à Brooklyn. J'avais deux options, mais j'ai favorisé le mot solitude à multitude, c'est finalement une bonne représentation de l'univers que je me choisis par défaut. le livret inclut également des photos de cette session.

Pour voir le produit finit ou pour vous procurer l'album, il vous suffit de vous rendre directement sur le site du groupe : ergoisaband.com

 

Who said depressed?

Since the media won't stop forcing us into fear territory with the "Century's great depression", i decided to appeal with a sweet & fresh pop song from a band i recently discovered on myspace named Revolver. A bohemian trio from Paris 'deprived of modern technology' some will observe. A good old-school pop song in my opinion with a small amount of melancholy. Kind of makes me want to rush away on my bike in the French country side in the middle of summer!

Enjoy, it won't last long before we decide to go back to cynical-o land.

Revolver "Untitled 2" from Karakoid on Vimeo.

Mais qui a dit qu'on devait se laisser aller au pessimisme? La recession, la depression, moi j'ai trouve sur myspace ce petit trio parisien qui fait de jolies chansons un peu bohemes & pleines de legerte. Faut croire qu'on a repris de l'activite a l'usine du positivisme!

Revolver a decouvrir sur Myspace

Ergo in studio

Last week, i had the privilege to join the quiet circle of Brooklyn based band Ergo, as they were recording their second album. My goal was to disappear in the room and capture the dedication, concentration and many debates that a recording process involves. For all readers who are strolling around here for the first time and are not familiar with me: I am a New York based photographer. if you are interested or know musicians who would be interested in this type of work, please contact me and we'll talk more about what i can offer.
I had a great time working with these guys. Many thanks to Brett, Carl and Shawn for letting me hang around.

 

Brett et son groupe Ergo en studio. C'etait la semaine derniere.
inutile de preciser que j'etais dans mon element. Observer des musiciens au travail, c'est exaltant.
Une experience que j'aimerais franchment renouveler avec d'autres artistes musiciens. j'aime tellement le cote "coulisse", le cote inacheve, en chantier dans le processus creatif.
Ce fut un plaisir, merci a eux de m'avoir fait une petite place dans leur univers.

Indie*Gem

Recommendation of the week: Syd Matters A whisper and a sigh.
It made my day as i received it in the mail after much anticipation. My first impression was that suddenly everything became half-shiny/half-rainy in a very sweet way. This (french) man's sound is a gem. Beautiful melancholic ballads woven on electronic and acoustic instruments. It feels like a trip to a soft dream or something...
This album was actually released in 2002 and other beautiful things happened since i'm sure. I can't wait to hear more of him and his enchanting band.

Merci nico pour avoir souligne cet artiste aux talents magiques sur ton site. J'aime, j'aime, j'aime!
Syd Matters A whisper and a sigh. Me l'ecoute en boucle...

I am there

The way i see it, everyone who does carry the slightest affection for America must be at some point mesmerized by the Dylan case. Especially if music magnifies their life, like it does mine. I started listening to Dylan at a 'late' age, compared to those who have the luxury to master English at an early one. I started to appreciate American poetry and its wit quite honestly with a Bob Dylan song, and i never stopped listening ever since. The character as a whole is fascinating to me, far beyond the words and the chords and this movie freshly out for the holidays couldn't be more of a reverence to the Master. Even though i felt like the man is still alive and shouldn't be talked about like he isn't, i found the film profoundly touching and well made; 6 different fiction characters all embody a different stage of Dylan's life (till nowadays). An impressive outcome, for a quite ambitious project.
I'm not there, by Todd Haynes is playing at the Film Forum.
Click here to see the trailer.

            
   
            

Il y a quelques annees, lorsque j'ai vraiment commence a comprendre l'anglais, je me suis mise a ecouter Dylan, sa poesie, sa maitrise des mots, son harmonica, et puis cette voix troublante... Il fait partie de cette intelligence que l'on accorde trop peu a la culture americaine, cette espece de liberte arogante que l'on envie presque tous en secret, parcequ'il vit ce qu'il ecrit avec une rare integrite. Je suis la premiere a vouloir defendre ce cote de l'amerique, aussi fascinant que le dernier film hommage a ce musicien/poete de genie. I'm not there est une fiction, parfois tournee comme un documentaire, interpretee par 6 personnages qui incarnent chacun une periode differente de la vie de  Dylan. Un film ambitieux a ne pas manquer si, comme pour moi, ce personnage icone de la culture musicale sucite un elan de curiosite emerveillee.

Voir bande annonce dans sa version originale.

A year in a life

About to bury another year and celebrate one of blogging, i had to nail at the top of my head some highlights of 2007. I do so often carry the weight of things like a ball and chain i have to admit, but this {incomplete} patchwork of things & events have all somehow left a remarkable trace of sweetness if not amazement in my mind.
It is by no mean a reduction of what year 2007 was for me, but more what would have surfaced in my mind if you had asked me to come up with striking occurrences within 30 seconds... i let you guess who is what. I am obviously forgetting millions of things but can't quite remember life before Jim James's voice on Acoustic Citsuoca & the extraordinary PBS documentary series Country boys, which tell the story of what it is to grow up in america (another great fascination of mine...). Question relatively answered as well in About a son.

      

Pour ceux qui ne partagent pas ma vie ici, cet article de fin d'annee n'aura forcement que tres peu de raisonnance... j'ai essaye de faire un petite compilation de choses qui ont pimente mon annee, m'ont fait rever, reagir, vibrer etc... en oulbliant certainement la moitie. Une liste bien incomplete il faut le dire.
Voici deja presque un an que j'ai commence ce blog... fiou! que le temps passe.
De-ci de-la, j'ai parseme un peu de souvenirs et d'objets que j'affectionne etrangement comme cette paire de jolies chaussures un peu retro ;-)
Bref, il me tarde d'enterrer cette annee et de sourir a de nouvelles decouvertes!

The Brits have it!

Just yesterday i purchased this new fantastic album called The Good, the Bad and the Queen. Hard to actually describe how good the sound is, but its melancholic-ballads reminded me of the the hypnotic Kid a by Radiohead at first, but without the gloom. This one is definitely a happy album.
Being a Blur fan for quite some years, i had to go with the flow when they decided to split, and embrace the new work of Damon Albarn. The guy is a real talented pal, sort of always unpredictable but with a very distinctive signature sound. I am not a huge fan of The Gorillaz, but The Good, the Bad and the Queen is kind of a mini-masterpiece-like band composed of half-legends (Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong, and Albarn himself).

What it all comes down to is: British bands rock! i can't get enough music from the UK, it is just plain good. Don't get me wrong, there is absolute genius in American music, but the British somehow always manage to have a little melancholic edge that i love. It is so much part of the European culture, i just relate to it.
This album made my gray day a little bit brighter.
Happy week to everyone!