Public Republic

Mariana Velichkova’s interview with the photographer Michel Seguret

What is photography for you?

Photography is my passion, friendly to all other activities.
Photography is also my life companion.
It keeps track of what has been and will never be again, an emotional release too, it’s my way of expressing quite instinctively what surprises or pleases my eye.
One can’t forget that «l’œil est le miroir de l’âme», «the eye is the mirror of the soul».

What is your view on the relation between photography and art?

I see no relation. Photography is art … or can be art. I don’t believe in classified art; there is no lesser art! Photography is part of art: visual art such as cinema or design, everyday art such as furniture or jewelry, theatre or circus or dance.

I’m not really convinced I have an artistic eye but I let my artistic side become more and more present in my life and occupations.
On the other hand, I’m sure that numerical equipment can really arouse artistic creation.
Nevertheless I prefer authentic pictures without any after-treatment.

Do you see photography as a way to explore our imagination?

Not really. Photography is not my inner imagination but simply the expression of what I see.
I take a quick shot knowing instantly what I want to show at the moment that I see the subject.

What is the greatest mystery for you behind taking pictures?

Instinct. How I capture what my eyes see.
I’m conscious at that instant of the light and the composition that displays itself before my eyes. I’ve often been told that I see what others don’t see.

I believe I am ultra-sensitive to beauty. My eye on the alert contacts my sensitivity who answers or not by a pressure on my camera button. When I see a subject I just know how to capture it.

What fascinates you about taking pictures of animals?

The approach.
It’s like playing a game with animal instinct, to get close to the other’s territory: “Will you let me come closer to photograph you?”
And when I take the picture, I usually say a “Yes, I got it” and it’s often a great moment of satisfaction and excitement.

What are your goals as a photographer?

To show that beauty is all around us, even in ugliness.
I love to capture details of a common object or situation and so reveal it’s very own hidden beauty. An ugly wall or a rusty object can become in a close up, a very beautiful subject, like a painting.

Real provocation, exciting, to reveal that garbage for example can become a piece of art.
Cleverly using angles, making the misled observer believe a scene is not what it is, and so causing surprise or embarrassment, can be terribly amusing!

Who are you without your camera?

Eyes without sight, a mouth with no voice, hands with no fingers …and a head boiling with ideas I couldn’t express without my camera.

What is your advice to those who want to use photography to express their creativity?

Open your eyes, open your soul … dare show others what you see and above all your way of seeing it. Although technique has its importance, never forget to express one’s own vision of things.

Biography

Michel Seguret was born in south of France in 1966 and lives near the Mediterranean Sea in a Languedoc village. He works in education but he is preparing for a big professional change towards communication activities.

He has been interested in photography since 1986 and started with my Pentax P30, just posting his pictures on Flickr two years ago and so showing his work. With an average of 50,000 shots per year, photography has become his second main activity after his job. He has realized many publication projects on nature, poetry and touristic guides.

Properly equipped with Nikon cameras, it’s now time to turn this activity that was up until now his hobby, into a professional activity, and put his talent to its best use…
His social circle already considers him as a photographer above all, and he is very flattered of this title!