Dear soulmates!
Today, I want to tell you about a great French photographer ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ who worked with Placebo on the early days of their career. In his ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ for ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐, he shared some memories on photographing the guys.
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| Photo credit: Richard Bellia, 1997 |
"I turned to photography at the age of 18. There was a camera lying around at a friend’s party, I took it, I took photo after photo and when my friends saw the result, they all said, ‘Your photos are really great!’ and I told myself that was what I should do." In October 1980, during a Cure concert, Bellia decided to become a rock photographer. In 1985, Bellia settled in London and quickly began to work for the famous Melody Maker magazine. This new contribution sparked an interest from the French press and Bellia became a regular correspondent specializing in the British music scene.
⭐️"Photography is both a passionate and professional discipline. It is a means of earning money and getting closer to music. Being in the front row, blending your creativity with that of the artist you photograph…" - ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐
(๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ก๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ)
⭐️You can watch a little video about ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐’s exhibition of music photography in Athens in 2018:
➡️ https://bit.ly/2zR9UA5
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| Photo credit: Richard Bellia, 1997 |
๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐: For the first time I photographed Placebo at a concert in Paris at a venue called รlysรฉe Montmartre (April 21, 1997). And there I photographed them twice. The day before in the office of Virgin, Champs-รlysรฉe, Paris, and the day after in front of the concert venue, before the concert in the afternoon.
For the very first time I photographed them on the Champs-รlysรฉe, in the Virgin records office. It was a very nice light through the window, and the back, in the corridor, the electric lights lit. And I figured out that I could take a photo partially of the day light and partially of the electricity. And I said: 'This is going to look…' I used an English expression that you, probably, know. It's 'arty-farty'. And I said: 'This is going to look arty-farty'. Brian thought it was so funny that it was a nickname that he gave me. And when we ever met he called me 'arty-farty' because it was so funny. Now I think we met once more in Switzerland at a festival several years ago.
๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฒ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฏ๐: This photo shoot with soap bubbles… Did you take this picture after your meeting with the band at รlysรฉe Montmartre?
๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐: It was the second time when I met Placebo at the festival in France called Eurockรฉennes. It's a very important festival in France in July. It was 1997. Technically, I remember details about that very well. I was carrying myself some light equipment and then by accident it all fell down and stopped working on the first day. So on the second day I checked the telephone book and I checked in this regime photographers who made weddings or studio photography. I explained to one of the photographers from a rock magazine that I had this problem, and he said that the magazine had the equipment and they were really happy to help me. I used the equipment that the magazine lent for this day. I think that I knew instantly that the photography I was taking would have a very good dynamic because I could see it when I was taking the photo. And also the specific camera I used helped me making adjustments so that is why the sky was very dark at the back. I was very happy to see that the band was lit and the sky at the back was also very blue added to this dynamic of the photo ending.
๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฒ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฏ๐: Who made up this idea with soap bubbles?
๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐: It was for the promotion of the festival. They had to produce bottles of bubbles and they gave them for free to everyone so it was very normal, everyone did it and used them for photos.
(๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก, 2018)
Post by Olga
