Interview with Julien Drogoul
BIFA 2023 Winner, 1st Place, Non-Professional Special, “Dialogue.S”
Q: Can you briefly tell us about your background and what inspired you to pursue photography?
I’m a 33 years old French nurse living not far from Saint-Etienne (France). Somehow I’ve always been interested into photography but it really turned into a passion around 2015 when i bought myself my first reflex camera and started to shoot the streets. It’s been 8 years now and I’ve never stopped!
If I’m not at work, you’ll probably see me traveling abroad with my camera! With the years I’ve been exploring different types of photography (events, concerts, landscape) but I would definitely define myself mostly as a street photographer.
Q: What drove you to submit your work to the BIFA competition and your thoughts on how winning this competition impacted your artistic journey?
I had already known about this competition for a year. This year, my artistic project was rich enough to propose a coherent series.
Winning this prize is an honor for me; it has helped underline the importance of my approach at a time when I was working on the realization of a photo book (now published by Corridor Elephant: https://www.corridorelephant.com/product-page/dialogue-s-de-julien-drogoul) and my first art gallery exhibition (https://galerie-xxie.fr/julien-drogoul-photographie/).
Q: Could you describe any challenges you faced while capturing this moment (winning image/s)?
My photographic project called “DIALOGUE(s),” of which some of the photos form the series presented at BIFA, finds its value in the multiple interactions it reveals. Some interactions are tangible, while others are more fictional and may exist only through the eye of the beholder looking at the photos.
The challenge primarily lay in this search for interactions. I no longer count the number of long days spent walking in cities that turned out to be fruitless, at the end of which the magic didn’t happen. It often required patience to capture the right encounter.
Q: What, in your opinion, are the most important factors in creating great images?
Beyond theoretical knowledge (lighting, composition, etc…), I would say that the right image presents itself to us when a sharp eye for our surroundings is combined with a lot of patience, and undoubtedly a bit of luck!
Q: What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of photography?
That’s a good question. Adaptation, I guess. Whatever goal(s) you pursue in photography, you’ll seldom find yourself in optimal conditions. You constantly need to adapt and rethink your practice.
Q: What motivates and drives your photography?
I’m primarily seeking connections, those famous dialogues found in my current project. I often wait to see elements collide to create – in my imagination at least – a fleeting story. That’s when I press the shutter, when I think I can tell a story.
Of course, this pursuit has dictated my project over the past decade. Now that it’s finished, I suppose my photography will take one or more other paths in the coming years.
Q: What’s next for you in your career as a photographer?
As mentioned earlier, this year 2024 is dedicated to showcasing the “dialogue(s)” project through certain competitions like the BIFA, a few exhibitions, and the release of the eponymous book. I’m planning a 6-month trip somewhere in Asia in 2025. It will likely mark the beginning of a new project, but it’s too early to know its form.
