Frame by Frame: Exploring French Fashion Photographer Matthieu Quatravaux
Matthieu Quatravaux, a French photographer born and raised in France, seamlessly blends awkwardness, simplicity, and eccentricity into his photos, resulting in beautifully cohesive compositions. His work captures the world of fashion with stunning pieces that leave viewers in awe. Greatly influenced by Wes Anderson, Matthieu incorporates a unique awkwardness into his photography, showcasing the beauty of fashion and his distinctive artistic vision. Inspired by the art of photography from a young age, Matthieu Quatravaux felt the thrill of clicking the shutter and never looked back. His beautiful work reflects his deep passion and dedication to the craft of photography. Matthieu's work showcases a unique yet simple approach to fashion photography, incorporating a fine art aesthetic. His aspiration to become a fine art fashion photographer is evident in his distinctive and beautiful portraits.
@matthieu.qua
What got you into photography, and then either into film photography or did you start with film?
“My introduction to photography was a bit unusual I think as it was purely based on my sensations - A friend of my parents visited for dinner when I was around 11 and he had a sweet Nikon D700 with a big lens. He allowed me to try it and play with it and I found the sensation of pressing the shutter button super satisfying. Felt connected to the camera in a way and even though I didn’t create any good images this evening, I liked the game of photography a lot; I learnt most of the basics like exposure triangle and basic composition rules. I practiced with an old weird Sony camera my dad had and then to celebrate my good grades my parents generously offered me my first good camera. I distanced myself a little from my camera. I had maybe a one or two year period where I didn’t shoot much or even didn’t take my camera on some trips. Then my girlfriend of the time, wanted to learn photography and I was so happy to teach her that, I dove back into photography myself. I started with a bit of portraits but I mainly was interested in street photography. At the time my only experience with film was with my grandmother’s Semflex (a french rolleiflex basically) and I just shot some slide film (which I didn’t understand what it was) using sunny 16. However that quickly changed as I began watching Negative Feedback on Youtube and watched interviews of various photographers like Rosie Matheson who used film with Mamiyas for portraits. That piqued my interest in film and portraits altogether. I started composing my portraits the same way I composed my street photos, quite large, far from my subjects in a way, but trying to show the outfits. I practiced with friends mainly and then while in an exchange in Korea for a year (2020-2021) I was shooting almost exclusively portraits and reached out to people on instagram who I found stylish. A few years later, my career finally started growing as I got to do some collaborations with Lomography, Godox and even Instagram themselves. Nowadays I shoot almost exclusively on film, which I scan after with a digital camera. I’d like to get into hand printing it though but it’s terribly expensive to do.”
Outside of fashion what also inspires you and your photography?
“I feel like my two biggest inspirations are the movies of Wes Anderson and the method of Tyler Shields. Wes’ movies are so perfectly framed while adding a bit of trashy style to the images with the use of distorted anamorphic lenses. I love that contrast and I love clean, perfect compositions. As for Tyler’s work, he explained in an interview how he tries to shoot every picture as if it’s worth 1 million dollars. I kind of try thinking in that way nowadays and I try to perfect my frames the best I can and only press the shutter when what’s in my viewfinder is exactly how I want it.”
“ I shoot 1 picture per location the majority of the time and it helped me get better results.”
Is fashion also a big part of your life and inspiration? Or do you just like to photograph fashion?
”I like clothes for sure. But I guess I’m not that interested in trends and what’s fashionable at the moment. I mainly like high quality fabrics and products that will last me a lifetime. I kind of follow what’s happening in fashion though and I like seeing cool brands and original stuff from time to time. Originally I saw being a fashion photographer as my end goal. Now, my end goal would be to become a fine art photographer, deciding whatever I want to shoot, creating whole sets to make pictures. But I still want to be a fashion photographer on my way to this goal. So, I like to dress up, I guess in that way fashion is part of my life, it just isn’t my END goal when it comes to my photography career.”
How does photography make you feel, whether it’s during or after the shoot?
“Before a shoot I’m usually a bit worried. Most of the time I don’t have plans for my shoot, it’s just we go somewhere and I have to find good pictures. I like to improvise the locations but at the same time it’s still a bit stressful to work that way.”
“So overall before a shoot, stressed and excited. I guess I discovered the extraverted part of myself with photography as I sympathize with people and we just talk and hangout. So I mostly feel comfortable during the shoots, chill, talkative usually. Since a lot of my shoots are improvised when it comes to locations, we walk a lot and just discuss on the way. I love discovering all those new people I shoot photos with and giving them a safe space to discuss anything and everything. I think it’s both interesting and also good for the pictures as my models are more relaxed. So during the shoots, I feel chill, in my zone I guess. And after, it depends. I’m usually scared. I’d say 75% of the time I’m worried that I messed up my exposures or just that my photos didn’t have the same quality as usual, things like that.”
“But when I scan the film, often all that goes away and I’m just happy. It happened that I had shivers just inverting my film and discovering a photo for the first time because I’m so happy of how it turned out. Also, I’m disappointed in the first place but then I take a little break from editing and when I come back to the images I’m very happy. So after a shoot, I probably feel a bit anxious, and impatient (to get my film developed). As for the people involved, as I said, I love to talk with them and just exchange. It’s part of why I prefer small teams, like, 0 people or maybe just 1 or 2 assistants so that we can all discuss together and feel like a simple friends group while walking and shooting good photos.”
What are or is the big dream with photography?
“My big dream would be to get a living from selling prints, and doing exhibitions around the world. I’d love to create my photoshoots from start to finish and create entire sets just for my photos, fully bringing to reality any idea inside my head. To get there I’d like to direct campaigns and shoot them for brands and fashion in general.”
Describe what photography is to you?
“I think it’s just fun!! Sometimes I focus on stuff that people ignore, and so using photography allows me to show them that. I don’t think I see photography as such a deep subject though. I just enjoy doing it and I find the whole process super satisfying. I think I don’t see it as so serious, I want to make art and I don’t want to be a very serious snob kind of artist. So, fun before all.”
“It’s a way to try and show others how the world looks through my eyes.”
@karakolero
Matthieu Quatravaux’s work masterfully combines the strange with the beautiful. His unique presentation of models captures the viewer's attention, drawing them in with its eccentric charm. Through his fashion lens, Matthieu creates pieces that are captivating and beautiful, yet delightfully awkward and weird. Drawing clear inspiration from Wes Anderson, he infuses his own creativity and perspective, crafting images that offer a glimpse into his distinctive vision of the world. Frame by Frame Matthieu curates and crafts beautiful photos that inspire and create awe.