Romain Laurent: Tilt

Date
20 October 2010

French photographer Romain Laurent shot his Tilt series last year and although, through research, it got a suitable amount of coverage on various blogs there is actually very little information on the project and the secret behind it. Desperate to know more about the man behind the lens as well as the shoot itself, we went in search of some answers…

Morning Romain, there is very little information about you online, can you tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Romain Laurent, 27 years old, originally from the french Alps, living and working in Paris. I studied design for 3 years at ENSAAMA Olivier de Serres (National school of applied arts) in Paris and then switched to Photography at Gobelins, l’ecole de l’image, also in Paris. I’m working as a professional photographer since 2006.

What was the idea behind last year’s Tilt series?

I came up with this idea on a day I felt quite dizzy for a split second. It was like the world was tilted and that I was the only person standing straight. That’s when I decided to make it a series, to show this feeling to others.

Are you prepared to reveal the secret to the shoot? These people fell over right?

They are not falling, but it’s pretty simple, I had my assistant holding the actor leaning down on the side and I erased him in post production.

Tilt is part of your personal work, how important is it to have these projects running alongside your commissioned work?

It’s vital! Commercial work is a collaboration, a client request you have to answer. Most of the time the final photograph from a commission went through a lot of steps involving changes that are not always the way I’d artistically go. Still, in the end it’s work, really fun work, but not fine art or self expression. With my personal work I can express myself, I can directly go from a scene I imagined in my mind to the final series without making compromises on the look of it. It’s almost exactly what I have in mind. That helps me maintaining a fair level of sanity (well… maybe not) and creativity.

You released the series Something Real this year, what are you working on at the moment?

Well there are a couple of ideas that are in the process of being done or developed. I’m currently working on a fun studio project and I hope to release a new personal series by the end of November. Stay tuned to my website, twitter or fb page!

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About the Author

Will Hudson

Will founded It’s Nice That in 2007 and is now director of the company. Once one of the main contributors to the site, he has stepped back from writing as the business has expanded to become The HudsonBec Group.

will@thehudsonbecgroup.com

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