Last week was part 1 of Jean-Sebastien’s interview. In part 2, he talks about his favorite photograph; his goals for the future; his advice to aspiring photographers, and more.

NS: How did you come up with the idea of combining the fantasy world with the real world?

JSM:  Simply because it’s what I had in mind: I don’t know, it just came like this.

Do you plan everything out before you go out on your shoots?

JSM:  In order to make a session run smoothly, it is safer to plan it as much as possible. I start by looking around me for inspiration, reading books, looking at pictures in the street, magazines, books, movies, or in the internet. I also draw a basic storyboard that helps me explain what I’m looking for to the model. I often set up the number of photos at that time but this will evolve during the session, depending on my interaction with the model. We sometimes go beyond the storyboard too: the sketches are just a way to express the mood that I’m looking for.

Discussing with the model prior to the session is very important. This doesn’t mean that you have to plan every pose or every expression: but once you’ve defined the atmosphere and ideas that you’d like to convey, it’s way easier to play with these “rules” and change them on the fly. Furthermore, models are more confident if they know what the session will look like before starting it (this is important as my models are not professionals).

NS: What kind of things do you look for when shooting out on location?

JSM:  Light and background. It is difficult to explain how and why light is good or not: most importantly, there shouldn’t be sharp shadows on the model’s face. That’s why I always carry a reflector with me. As for the background, it should give a mood without being heavily detailed – this would conflict with the foreground (i.e, the model)

NS: When you shoot on location, do you use natural lighting, or bring your own?

JSM:  99% of the time, I use available light and a reflector. I rarely carry some radio-triggered flashes with me for special effects.

This might be a sensitive questions but photographers have been debating about this for years. In your photographs, you make it obvious that you use a Post-processing apps, probably photoshop, to add certain elements to your pictures. You are honest about it because you don’t try to hide it. But, how do you feel about photographers that use Photoshop to enhance their photography without disclosing it to the viewers?

JSM:  It’s an absolute sterile debate, in my humble opinion, as long as the result is good. We’re not talking about photojournalism but art. Do you know that most famous black and white photos are usually printed with a lot of careful masking / dodging and burning in the darkroom to make them look better? And most of the time, this wasn’t even done by the photographers themselves.

Furthermore, a film negative is an interpretation of reality anyway. Choices need to be made when printing, and it’s therefore an interpretation of the image anyway.

I’ve developed and processed many photos in the darkroom for years and it’s just an analog and less precise way to print them.

NS: You are very good with your color selections. How did you become very good with colors?

JSM: By looking at a lot of photos and paintings and trying to analyze them.

NS: Aside from portrait/glamour photography, are you interested in any other kind of photography?

JSM: I don’t think I do much “glamour”, actually, but rather portraits.
To answer your question, I can shoot anything as long as it’s interesting 😉 I’ve done a lot of series with very small-scale figures, for instance.

From your extensive portfolio, if you can pick only one, which photograph is your favorite? Why?

That’s really hard. It’s the kind of question I can’t answer. There are several photos that I love and are my favourite.

Now, I think that this image from the Atlantyopia photostory gives a good general insight at my work. The red lines and floating fishes give an intriguing mood and from my point of view, make the viewer want to learn more. The surreal lighting come from a hidden flash in the wall.

But I much enjoy some of my simpler photos too.

NS: As a photographer, what are your goals in the future?

JSM:  I will try to develop more photostories, as well as continue to challenge myself and find new approaches and subjects.

NS: Are there “nerdy” things that you like to do, like play video games?
JSM: I don’t play videogames, I don’t think I even have some on my computer. I read a lot of books, mainly novels and art books and I quite often hang out with friends to watch movies.

NS: Are there any advice that you can give to any aspiring photographers out there?

JSM: To have a clear goal in your mind and precisely know what you want before starting to shoot. I really *HATE* those ads from Sony: “Don’t think. Shoot.” That’s absolutely what prevents anyone from doing art, in my opinion. Fortunate accidents can happen of course, but they’re luck.

To know how to use your camera with all manual settings (obviously)

-To drop your cheap kit zoom lens and buy a 50mm f1.8 lens (cheap and amazing image quality and control over depth of field)
-To have fun during your photo sessions.
-To challenge yourself to make something different and more difficult each time.

NS: Thanks for your time, and we wish you well on your future endeavors.

JSM: Thanks for the interview.

End of Interview ——–

For a quick look at his work, visit his portfolio: www.jsmonzani.com
The complete photostories, illustrations and movies can be found at his main website: www.simplemoment.com

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