Born in Mulhouse, France in 1976, Lavoué worked as a timber engineer in the Amazon region of Brazil, only sporadically taking photographs. It was the pictures of Sebastião Salgado that inspired him to take up photography as a profession. In 2001 he took a course at the Centre Iris Photography School in Paris, after which he worked for the national and international press. His pictures have been shown in numerous exhibitions at home and abroad.
"I encountered the land of the Bigouden only a few days after meeting my partner, Catherine.
I was in my twenties, we had just decided to spend our life together and I had already had to go to Malaysia for several months. To seal our very young relationship, she decided to submit me to the "bigouden test", an initiation ceremony of a few days, at her grandparents' in Kérity.
From the first moment, I was literally bewitched. The smile of her grandmother welcoming us on the sidewalk, the blinding white light on the front of the house, the tray of steamed langoustines on the living room table ... then the strolls on the shore, the silhouette of the lighthouse, the stories of sailors lost at sea
Everything, my retina printed everything.
Twenty years later, here we are again at Kérity. With our two daughters.
After more than a decade of life in Paris, we are yearning for profound changes. We have considered everything: Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, Montreal.
Finally, it was at Cap Caval, the southern tip of Finistère, that we decided to settle.
In Kerity, in the house of Catherine's grandparents.
Quickly, this small familiar territory provoked the long-awaited Copernican revolution. The end of Parisian commissions has enabled me to practice a more personal photography and our new environment becomes my main source of inspiration. It's about trying to express the emotions I can feel living here on the edge of the world.
I grope around, experiment with several photographic forms to escape the worn-out iconography of the seashores, boats and fishing nets. Luckily, I'm too sick at sea to photograph on board! So I stay at the quay and push the door of the hangars: auctions, shipyards, marine forges, canneries, coolers ... I discover the "On land " sector fed by the successive tides of trawlers, trolling boats and netters. Community. Manual work. Painfulness. The economic and social architecture of the territory.
And there are young people . Those who have not left "the country" but cling to it, viscerally. They intrigue me, I photograph them: the young self-employed fisherman, queen of the embroiderers, miller, fish-scaler, surfer ... why do they stay when the majority leave? They guide me on new paths and help me complete my "Bigoudene" mind map.
That's how The Black Months was born, a fictional photographic story, an intimate representation of the territory in which my "bigoudène" and I had decided to live."
70 writers, whether academicians or young novelists, following Leïla Slimani and Jean d'Ormesson, are featured in the pages of this book.
Gathered by Étienne de Montety for the 70th anniversary of the "Figaro Litéraire" that he manages, they play the literary game inherited from the surrealists and let themselves be photographed for the occasion by Stéphane Lavoué.
Manuela Federl is a journalist and documentary filmmaker with over 15 years of experience. She studied languages, economics, and cultural studies, focusing on the Mapuche people in Chile, which became the subject of her published thesis. In 2016, she founded her company, bergjournalisten, and has since created award-winning documentaries like 100 Hours of Lesbos and THE GAME. Gambling Between Life and Death. For the past two years, she has traveled extensively, documenting social issues through photography and storytelling. Her series The Roma Princesses earned her the January 2024 Solo Exhibition.
Black Box, a memoir by award-winning American photographer Dona Ann McAdams, combines fifty years of black and white photography with the photographer’s own short lyric texts she calls “ditties.” The book brings together McAdams’ striking historical images with personal reflections that read like prose-poems. Her photographs, taken between 1974 and 2024, document astonishing moments and people across decades of American life.
Grace Weston’s staged photography transforms miniature vignettes into powerful narratives that explore psychological themes with a playful yet profound touch. Her meticulously crafted scenes invite viewers to delve into stories of power, identity, and human complexity. Weston’s innovative work has earned international recognition, including winning the November 2023 Solo Exhibition. We asked her a few questions about her life and work.
Tebani Slade is a fine art, street, and documentary photographer whose work bridges continents, blending the raw authenticity of her Australian roots with the vibrant energy of her second home in Barcelona. Known for her thoughtful approach to storytelling, Tebani immerses herself in unfamiliar settings, capturing unscripted moments that reveal profound truths about the world around her.
Mital Patel is an internationally recognized nature and wildlife photographer who focuses on capturing beauty in all its forms—whether natural or manmade. From architecture and landscapes to the creatures of the wild, Patel has a distinct passion for capturing the most remarkable elements of life through his visual representation of movement, emotion and mood. From behind the lens, he strives to bring viewers his very unique view of nature, telling a story without words and conveying a feeling in the abstract. He challenges his audience to let their imaginations run free, taking the journey with him on his travels and opening their minds beyond the confines of static photography.
In each of his pieces, Patel hopes to offer his audience a way to view the world around them a bit differently – to appreciate the beauty of moments and places that are often overlooked. An intrepid traveler and lover of adventure, Patel’s passion for creative and imaginative photography is a great asset to his exploration of the world, which spans six out of the seven continents. His work is admired worldwide for its unique and artistic perspective.
Steff Gruber, is a renowned Swiss photographer and filmmaker whose career spans decades of impactful storytelling. Having started as a press photographer for Keystone Press, Gruber was one of the pioneers of the docudrama genre, making his mark with the internationally acclaimed documentary LOCATION AFRICA. This film, which followed the intense dynamic between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski during the making of COBRA VERDE, earned him international recognition and set the tone for his distinct filmmaking style.
Gruber's passion for human interest stories has taken him to various countries, where he has documented diverse subjects through his compelling photo stories, often returning multiple times to deepen his understanding of the people and places he captures. His work is celebrated for its striking visual language and his bold approach to narrative, which continues to push boundaries in both photography and film.
We asked him a few questions about his life and work.
Eric Kunsman is a renowned photographer and educator whose work explores the intersection of history, culture, and social commentary. Known for his thought-provoking series and meticulous attention to detail, Kunsman captures powerful narratives that challenge conventional perspectives. In this interview, we delve into his creative process, inspirations, and the stories behind his most compelling projects
Laurie Victor Kay is a versatile, multi-disciplinary artist whose practice seamlessly merges photography, painting, installation, and digital media. Her work explores themes of constructed imagination, idealization, and the surreal, creating thought-provoking visual narratives that challenge traditional boundaries between mediums. We asked her a few questions about her background and work.
Nanda Hagenaars approaches photography with a poetic and emotionally rich sensibility, creating images that reflect her intuitive connection to the world. Fascinated by the relationship between time and timelessness, she often works in black and white, a medium that aligns with her creative vision. We discovered her beautiful work through her submission to AAP Magazine Portrait, and we were captivated by her series Perspective. We asked her a few questions about her life and work.
