REGARDEZ ICI POUR VOIR

REGARDEZ ICI POUR VOIR
Corentin Fohlen

Foreword by Hervé Le Tellier
Texts by Corentin Fohlen

Look here to see brings together around 50 recent portraits of celebrities and almost as many texts.

Dany Boon, Sandrine Kiberlain, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Elodie Gossuin, Philippe Besson, Théo Curin... Some of us know them by name, others by face, and sometimes by profession. We've come across them in newspapers, magazines, online, on television or at the cinema. Photographer Corentin Fohlen meets these celebrities to take their portraits on commission for the press. In a bustling bistro or a mundane office space, he has to juggle the constraints of time and environment. Under his lighting, faces and attitudes parade by, the photographer's technique refines itself, and his style becomes more refined.

Through his academic training in art and drawing, Corentin Fohlen builds an aesthetic that is both classic and surprising to create images where staging and the interplay of bodies reveal a defined frame, emphasised by contrasting colours, sharp shadows and often dark backgrounds that capture the highlights. Following this protocol, the photographer's improvisation is unleashed, aiming to reveal a hidden part of the person in front of him. For a few minutes, he plays a fast-paced game with his model, throwing them off balance by carrying them along in his movement.

After the shoot, the photographer gathers his thoughts, jots down a few impressions of what went on behind the scenes, rewrites them on the spot and posts them on social media. Often enthusiastic, ironic, or simply factual, these texts lift the veil on the poses and defences adopted by celebrities who lend themselves to the lens, an exercise that is often perceived as a danger in a social sphere where self-image is the main professional passport.

By shifting conventional representations and mocking power, the photographer skilfully questions the society of spectacle and the people that support it.

Hervé Le Tellier, author of L’Anomalie, winner of the 2020 Prix Goncourt, member of Oulipo, provides a counterpoint to Corentin Fohlen's perceptions in the foreword, opening up avenues for reflection on the role of portraiture, the degree of freedom within the frame, and the invigorating respect for constraints. Who is there in the image?

Technical features

You can view or upload the press kit (visuals, cover, book layout in PDF et press release).