Full text of the blog translated by Mark Donnelly:
The Little Savages. Photography by Alain Laboile Some photographers focus all their attention on something specific; following, encompassing, showing, interpreting and reinventing it in each image, giving shape to a never-ending puzzle that gives form to its own life. All their work revolves around one subject and pushes boundaries little by little without straying too far away from what gives coherence and direction to their work. Something like that can be said of the photographic work of Alain Laboile, a French sculptor who approaches the world of photography portraying his closest surroundings, his daily goings-on and especially the day to day lives of his six children omnipresent in his work (even in his self-portrait) He arrives to the world of stills because of an interest in insects; macro is his first stop. Soon he discovers a theme, his theme and one that he develops tirelessly with passion. He moves from the microcosm of insects to a greater cosmos, that of his family and its natural habitat – a house in the country and its surroundings. This is the beginning of a gallery of images that surprise us with their naturalness in which the children loose themselves, where the idea of freedom is transmitted without intervention and where the children play. They camp out on their land, have fun and discover bare foot, naked and free a world with no rules or hierarchy. The photos take us to a primitive time. They seem like an anthropological study of a child tribe that grows in harmony in its surroundings far from technology, rules and closed spaces. We rediscover a lost paradise that he shows us with purity and limitless transparency, with no recreations, a true childhood with no false poses or forced smiles. And so we enter into a world of games with no limits where at any given moment what is real comes into touch with a child’s fantasy. In this picture where the movement and lack of sharpness help to multiply this magic we see that all is possible in the land of the imagination: a young boy seems to be attacked by a little sorcerer flying on his broom with his wand in hand while a young girl sits on the steps contemplating the scene just like us! Alain Laboile (Bordeaux, France, 1968) Alain spends his time between sculpture and photography. His sculpture work demands a physical commitment in that he has to solder, cut metal, make noise and face the limitations of the material he is trying to mould or change. It is a long physical journey to represent his mental image. Photography seems the antithesis of this. In his photos he tries to capture what goes on around him in a spontaneous and immediate way with no control of the final result. He discovers photography in 2004. For three years he photographs insects until little by little he starts to portray his family. By participating in several competitions he is able to build up his camera equipment. Fascinated by street photography but living in the country, he applies this fascination to his children and their surroundings maintaining the essence of street photography to capture spontaneous moments. His photos have become his own diary. You only have to look at his children and let yourself go in their creativity: when things happen in his viewfinder all he has to do is press the button. It is as easy as that according to Alain although his portraits are a beautiful and exotic island in the ocean of family photographs that are floating out there on the web.
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Luis Mariano González
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