Nicolas Gavino’s photography could be described as erotic, sentimental, romantic, free, dark. But dark just because he is mostly shooting black and white. Gavino’s most notable work is probably Nocturne – a diary of 48 photographs in total. Nocturne is an intimate look into Gavino’s life – his home life – that resolves around intimacy and freedom. The thing about Nicolas is that he is also very French, even his inspiration could not be more French – he credits George Bastille’s books as an important part of his creativity. Nicolas Gavino possesses the ability to blend his object into the surroundings while remaining self-aware and still very much mysterious, which is also our favorite thing about his work. We love how everything is well exposed in terms of nudity, but on the other hand, we love not knowing everything in terms of feelings…. Sometimes it’s just better to know less!
Where does your interest in taking photographs come from?
Apriori I was really into drawings, and photography was not on my agenda, all until I came across Dirk Braeckman work.
Do you have traditional training in photography?
No, it’s just me and my automatic camera that I started using three years ago.
What is a photographer’s most important trait?
I have no idea.
What gives a photograph a certain value?
Radicalism and Sincerity.
What makes something timeless?
A friend once told me that a good typography respects the classical foundations of it, with a pinch of modernity. I think this combination can be accurate with photography as well. If it’s too modern it’s only going to be spectacular and won’t travel through time. If it’s too classical it will only look like a copy, a parody. I would say timeless things are a good combo of both.
Have you ever taken a perfect picture?
Katja, could you ever think about someone saying: “Oh yeah, I pictured perfection a few times”…
Patti Smith once said that “Every human being has a creative impulse, and we all have the right to exercise this creative impulse” would you agree?
Yes, you just have to watch kids whenever you give them a piece of paper and a pencil. Everybody is free to draw anything, but all those creations are bound to your own story. But creating something relevant is something completely different.
Can you trust us your favorite work/set story?
Yeah. I would say janitor story is my fave. I was photographing my friends one day, naked friends, I think there were 5 of us, it was going really well and then all of a sudden someone was at the front door. It was the janitor and he wanted to install a smoke detector, like asap. I didn’t want to let him in, knowing the situation inside, but he insisted. He got in, there were 5 naked people right in front of him, he played cool, installed the detector… And just prior he left- that time I think I saw him smile for the first time in my life as well – he said to me: “I think your day will be much nicer than mine.” And then he left.
How well do you keep secrets?
I try to forget them actually.
What do you fear?
Dark.
What was the last text message you send?
“With pleasure Rémi! We can do that again whenever you want, star emoji”
What are you working on next?
In September I’ll start a monthly diary, it will contain only unpublished pictures. And then series of ink drawings.
What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
Do you really think I’m going to tell you that?!
Pictures by Nicolas Gavino
