A talented photographer, Stéphane was lucky enough to start his career as the official photographer for Franck Sinatra’s funeral. A rather atypical start to his career, a week rich in emotion began for Stéphan, who landed in Los Angeles on Monday May 11, 1998, three days before Franck Sinatra’s death. On Sunday, in front of the Beverly Hills Church, he captured the arrival of the stars who had come to attend the singer’s funeral, whose photos were released to the international press.
Stéphane’s life was then punctuated by some wonderful encounters, such as that with Pierre Richard on the set of the TV film Robinson Crusoe, who has now become a close friend. Not knowing the results of his silver photos, Stéphan tried to capture the right emotion, the right image, the right moment, and the results were just right. A few weeks later, a satisfied Pierre Richard called him back and asked him to photograph his wine estate, Château Bel Evêque.
Alain Morel, who had already called on Stéphane for Pierre Richard, asked him again in 1999 to repeat his work on the video shoot for Je rêve d’un monde, a gospel ballad. Polnareff was initially reluctant, but soon gained his trust by observing him at work and, above all, by seeing his first photos. It was a shoot not to be missed, and Stéphan mastered it: Polnareff gave him carte blanche for a week for his big concert in Paris.
A third encounter, and not the least, has had a major influence on Stéphan’s development: Route 66 in the company of Johnny Halliday, and the immortalization of these moments.
“A world in color, in movement, or frozen. Ambient lights, low-light. Certain images, messages, settings that take his audience to a colorful world. A perspective on life, A perspective in color, A perspective on people. A vibe that’s all his ”
His weapon of choice: a compact camera, the Canon G1X PowerShot, simple, fast and discreet, ideal for avoiding “scaring” the people he shoots. He has more advanced lenses, and uses them on many shoots, but this little compact allows him to work more simply, without flash and in silence, to erase the distance with his subject and preserve the naturalness. He works while talking, putting people at ease and reassuring them while shooting, to retain all the spontaneity of a moment that needs to be immortalized.
His latest assignment took place in Madagascar, where he left to follow the presidential elections. His images were due to be broadcast by the Corbis agency, but… the elections were constantly postponed, and his patience ran out, finally taking the form of a photo report across the island, soon to be the subject of a book and a series of exhibitions.
To photograph is to “steal a moment”, to capture an emotion that doesn’t belong to him. His photos are full of color and emotion, and he plays with perspective and the elements around him to highlight details and light… By the time he thinks a photo should be taken, it’s already been taken. With his long experience he has found his style, his eye has sharpened, his gaze has changed, he sees like a lens, his world is his playground for immortalizing elements in a frame.
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