Irwin Barbé

I forget how old Irwin Barbé is, but it’s irrelevant. Whether or not he creates real moments with his off-handed photography is never a question — it feels like his photographs are living. It’s not like looking through a frame at a staged existence, it’s like carrying a mirror with you everywhere you go and having a truly objective reflection of your life. I like that. He’s shot for Vice Magazine and done a handful of campaigns. What is really interesting, are his collection of videos. If anything, the world he creates is so genuine that it makes one wonder if they are living up to one’s true existence.

“I realize that I’ve never lived anything truly interesting while photographing or filming. That’s why the most important moments were the ones during which I succeeded to capture something true. For example, these pictures are real. When you look at them you see the boredom, the inadequacy that I feel most of the time. Somebody wrote that the people in my pictures seemed «lost and cold». I liked it.”

See here.

“Among all my pictures, this is the one I like the most (above right). It was last summer in Biarritz (France). We spent a week with all our friends, living in the same house with no adults. We were there to shoot a video for my friend Luna’s fashion label, Venus In Furs. It was a great time. However, I don’t know what was happening to us, but it was as if we were stoned all-day long. We were totally numb, unproductive. For example, this picture was taken after a sleepless night, spent smoking and watching awful music videos on TV. We were all feeling depressed and tired. At dawn, we went up on the roof and watched the sunrise. I had my polaroid camera with me and I just snapped the moment. That’s why I like this photograph so much : it’s absolutely spontaneous.”