By Anne Sophie
Vincent Gabriel is a young french polaroid photographer. Although he considers himself as being an amateur, his images are definitly made under control and reflect some sort of pure tranquility, distance, inspiration and deep thinking… His universe is about friendship, day to day life but also travels, a lot of travels. He answered a few questions for Reviewer Magazine about his work and his projects…
When and why did you start your photographic work?
I started to shoot photographs and particularly polaroids about five years ago. To begin with, I was just shooting polaroids for fun. I had randomly bought one on e-bay and it rapidly became a real passion. I fel in love with the typical colors of polaroid, with the uncertainty of the result and this noise when the picture ejects off the camera… It is a “whole” !
Do you have a formal artistic education?
No, not at all! I really like art in general and photography in particular. I learned by watching a lot, looking and I think I still have plenty of things to learn.
Why polaroid and what sort of equipment do you work with?
What I prefer the most in polaroid is the instant aspect. The fact of watching the polaroid picture develop is amazing. I could never finish a film and the wait before being able to look at the pictures was just unbearable. One day I’ll maybe learn develop a film myself but for now as polaroid is doing it for me, it’s just perfect! I use different cameras : I have a SX-70 and a SRL680 for square formats and I have a polaroid 195 for rectangular ones.
Do you use other artistic techniques?
In general, it’s always linked with polaroid. I always try new techniques, different transfers, cut-ups, mosaics… There are thousands of possibilities and so many supports to try on.
Do you consider your work as experimental?
Yes and no. When I only shoot a picture and don’t work on the support then it’s not an experimental work. But when I do an emulsion transfer on bubble wrap, then yes, that can be considered as experimental.
How do you think you’re going to evolve, what are your projects?
I think I can still make progress. I carry on doing lots of tests and I’ve got a few ideas in mind that’ll maybe be on my blog or my website one day. As I’ve said there are an infinity of possibilities and I want to try the most.
You can discover more of Vincent Gabriel’s polaroids on his website and on his polaboratory blog, just follow the links below :
www.polaboratoire.blogspot.com