In almost 10 years only rare are the times I accept to do an interview. Here is a new one I did with East London fashion label OH MY LOVE
You have a life many would love to lead, what is it like being Viktor Vauthier?
It took me 10 years of experience to get here, but in the beginning my dream was just to be an artist, I wanted that lifestyle. I tried lots of different art forms throughout my life but photography is my passion. My dream is to make movies; photography is a way to learn about framing and the use of light.
With a portfolio of beautiful photographs and an impressive client list, what is in store for you for the near future?
I've been shooting more and more in LA so I'll be living between both London and LA now, on my last few visits over there I met lots of creative people like I have done here in London.
When you are not behind the camera, what can you be found doing?
I like to travel, ride motorcycles, spend time with my son and cruise around on my skateboard. Also, my favourite part of London is where I live in east, with Broadway Market and the beautiful Victoria Park nearby, to me it feels almost like the South of France, so when I go and get my coffee in the morning it's like being in a little village; you can sit there and chat to everyone.
Skateboarding? That's pretty rad. Is this a source of inspiration for you?
I’ve never been good at skateboarding unfortunately but I’ve always been surrounded by skateboarders. I worked in a skateboard shop and designed stuff for a local skateboard brand in the south of France for almost 10 years. My son loves to skateboard so we love to cruise around together. Yes, I gather inspiration from skateboarding culture, it is and always will be my first source of inspiration.
When I started my blog almost 10 years ago, my only source of inspiration was artists and photographers Ed Templeton and Patrick O'Dell. They are undoubtedly the pioneers of the whole blog/instagram post everyday thing. Also, I found a bunch of my dad’s photographs taken in the South of France when he was younger which inspired me, he used to shoot with small film cameras so the photos would come out with lots of imperfections and little burn marks which inspires me a lot for my own work.
And what kind of camera do you shoot with?
This is the number one question that people and friends have been asking me since I started out. I really hate that question to be honest cos I think it would be like asking Kurt Cobain what kind of guitar he uses, and to expect that if you use the same guitar you'll play like him, do you know what I mean? For me photography is not about the technique, but more about the subject. What camera you use is not the central point, what or who you photograph is. Anyway, I use 35mm film cameras because I don't like Photoshop. When I look at the fashion industry there is too much use of Photoshop, too much fakery and not enough natural beauty. The most beautiful girls in the world still have flaws and I think they should be embraced rather than airbrushed out.
These days pictures are made to look like film by using different filters so I just prefer to actually use film. I'm an analogue person, I still prefer listening to vinyl. There's something more special about it, and a richness in vinyl and film photographs that you just don't get with their digital counterparts.
Do you have any tips for budding photographers?
I think it's such a difficult industry to get noticed in and these days there are so many people trying to do the same thing. To be honest I don't think there's room for anymore professional photographers at present, it's scary these days as everyone has a blog and everyone wants to be a photographer. Even some of the people I know who were talented in other art forms finally stop what they were doing to try to be a photographer. The problem is that only a few of us will make it.
If you could photograph anyone who would it be?
My girlfriend Ella, definitely. She is my muse and the raw way we started taking photographs together has become my signature approach. Back in the day, we would just walk around East London and her amazing style with her stunning looks and these crazy cheekbones made my work easy. So I would ask her "hey just stand here in front of this shop front, let's go to the canal, jump on your bike" to make the photos looks candid and fun. This and the use of cheap cameras with lot's of faulty, grain and crazy light became my style and I can see all over the internet this kind of style has inspired a lot of young aspiring photographers. But at the beginning this was not the plan; it was just us having fun.
Finally, everyone knows we love working with you, but what do you enjoy most about working with Oh My Love?
That's easy: I'm free to express myself and take pictures how I like to take them. It's nice meeting up with Anne and speaking in our native french and plan our future collaborations; it's always such a good atmosphere on our shoots.
Thanks Viktor! Check out our latest shoot with Viktor here, our Oh My Love Autumn 13 Lookbook.