Louis Treserras
Louis talks about the delicate balance between photography and painting in his work. He shares how he uses photography as a tool to craft timeless, emotionally figures that exist beyond reality. He discusses his focus on beauty, simplicity, and the connection with his models, while expressing his indifference to trends. Through this conversation with Thomas Berlin, he offers a rare glimpse into his artistic process and philosophy.
Thomas Berlin: It's great that we can do this interview, Louis.
It's something special for me because I feel that we will not only be talking about photography. Because your photographs - I almost don't want to talk about photographs - remind me a lot of painting. Is this impression correct and what does painting mean to you and your work in comparison to photography?
Louis Treserras: Hello and thank you for your interest in my work.
In fact, there are many bridges between my world as a photographer and the world of painting, because I am primarily a painter. For me, photography is just an important element in my creative process of painting, a tool that I use to achieve my goals. Since I almost always work with models, I have made it a habit to photograph them first and then paint them according to my ideas. My painting technique (oil painting) is very time-consuming because I need a lot of time to dry between the individual layers and it is easier for me to work from photos. At the beginning, I only photographed my model, but then I familiarised myself with the subject matter, equipped myself with professional equipment and the introduction of Photoshop opened up unexpected doors and possibilities for me, which I was happy to explore.
Thomas Berlin: How would you describe your photos to someone who can't see them?
Louis Treserras: It is a body of work that is mainly concerned with the expression of faces and bodies as variations on emotional states. The whole thing is gently inspired by classical painting and an unconditional love of beauty.
Thomas Berlin: In your pictures, I see young women in a picturesque atmosphere. The women seem a little removed from reality. Although many women are unclothed, there is no erotic impression, but rather the impression of purity, innocence and harmony. This sometimes reminds me of Renaissance painting. Can you categorise these thoughts and explain the intention or purpose of your paintings?
Louis Treserras: Thank you for this perception, which is very apt. Reality is often so sad that it makes you want to cry. My figures are not part of it. They live in a parallel world that is invisible to most of us, unless it is through the open windows of art, which a photo or a painting represents. They are strangely immobile, although they are very much alive, and their gazes, on which I focus all my attention, invite or repel us, depending on who and what we are. I am not very interested in eroticism, even if it may creep in subliminally in some of my works. To me, nakedness means purity, truth, naturalness and devotion. Ultimately, nakedness is only very rarely the subject of my work.
Thomas Berlin: When are you satisfied with one of your pictures and what makes a good picture in general?
Louis Treserras: There are only a few photographs and even fewer paintings that I am completely satisfied with. A photo is taken in a few seconds, a painting in a few weeks, but when it's done, there are always those little details that I didn't see in time, or all the things I could have done better, that make it impossible for me to be completely satisfied, and in the end I have to say that I like it.
Generally speaking, I like a picture when it is simple, honest, straightforward and beautiful. A picture touches me when it shows people or nature, when I can enter into a dialogue with it, when I can make it my own, when it gives me something valuable.
Thomas Berlin: How would you describe a photo shoot with you? Do you have a concept in mind or do you work more intuitively? And how long does a shoot like that last?
Louis Treserras: I often prepare my shoots. I buy outfits and decorative elements from all over, depending on my mood, but I always make sure that they have something timeless about them. Once the atmosphere is right, I let the model develop, but I give them constant feedback. If I like a model, I can work with them for years, so that a sense of familiarity, even intimacy, develops, which is necessary for the state of surrender I am seeking. I receive the models in my home, often for several days, so that we can get to know each other a little better.
Thomas Berlin: How important are the people in front of your camera for creativity and image composition? Do you give your models creative freedom or do you tend to work in a more directive way?
Louis Treserras: A bit of both. After a few sessions, the models know my world very well, they can easily empathise with it and therefore know that they can sometimes suggest things to me that I hadn't thought of, that I couldn't think of, because each of them is unique.
Thomas Berlin: Your pictures radiate a great harmony. How do you treat your models in the intimate moments of photography to achieve this harmony in their expression? And what else contributes to it?
Louis Treserras: This harmony is precisely the result of this relationship with the models. Added to that is my desire for simplicity, plus the post-processing in Photoshop, which has its significance. The precise framing, the harmonisation of colours and dimensions, as well as the work on the flowing movements of the faces and bodies.
Thomas Berlin: How do you handle light and how do you set up the lighting?
Louis Treserras: I have a whole arsenal of flashguns, but after many years of experimentation, I now only use a single flash on a very mobile stand, along with reflectors and absorbers. Here, too, I strive for simplicity, and I find technology deeply boring.
Thomas Berlin: When does painting come into it?
Louis Treserras: I have a pool of more than 30,000 photos that I look at very often. Today, I can paint from an image that was created 10 or 15 years ago and that I hadn't noticed. It's really a very direct, instinctive moment. I can decide to paint a picture today that I didn't care about yesterday. So I never throw a picture away.
Thomas Berlin: What does your working day look like?
Louis Treserras: I'm a hard worker. I work every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. I only rest when I'm travelling, and even then I'm never without my camera.
Thomas Berlin: Can I just come back to the technology for a moment?
Louis Treserras: As I said, technology plays a very minor role for me. However, I have remained loyal to Canon and Leica, more out of convenience than anything else. I always work ‘connected’ by watching what I do directly on a Mac. The model can see it, and so we can discuss and correct where necessary. On the other hand, I have built a very flexible and practical studio, with backgrounds that I paint and that I can quickly exchange during the shoot.
Thomas Berlin: You mentioned the editing earlier. When do you decide on the editing? During the shoot or afterwards?
Louis Treserras: I choose a wide frame so that I can decide later on very precisely what the right frame will be. For each picture, I set up the lighting once and then concentrate on working with the model, which is much more interesting. For everything else, Photochop is my friend.
Thomas Berlin: Your images seem to be anything but a short-term product of the zeitgeist. Nevertheless, you are of course active on social networks. What do you think in general of social media, including the prudishness that influences the presentation of many of your images on Instagram?
Louis Treserras: I don't really pay attention to trends. On the contrary, I'm often tempted to do something about it when I see that a technique or approach is becoming too commonplace. This is also evident in the way I work with models. I hate stereotypical poses, attitudes and looks. I never accept make-up or tattoos, for example.
“I don’t really pay attention to trends”
I can only regret the childish prudishness of social networks; it affects me and at the same time leaves me cold, because ‘you can't convince an idiot with the best arguments!’
Thomas Berlin: Haha, Mark Twain, whom you are presumably quoting, already knew that. Do you feel the prudishness that has emerged in some countries in recent years when it comes to nude photos in France and to exhibitions or the sale of pictures?
Louis Treserras: Yes, of course. Even in the galleries I work with. But here too, how can you educate someone who sees an insult to what they are or what they believe in a nude painting? I can understand them, but there's nothing I can do for them.
Thomas Berlin: Where do you find the inspiration for your work?
Louis Treserras: Mainly in classical painting and in my heart; or rather in my gut.
Thomas Berlin: As you are familiar with both the world of painting and photography from your own artistic work, I would be interested to hear your views on the two media in comparison. What can painting do that photography can't and vice versa? And why have you remained faithful to painting?
Louis Treserras: I have always been fascinated by drawing and painting. Even at a young age, I drew faces and bodies that I found in magazines that my parents read. Photography came much later, so it's quite natural that I chose this medium.
Drawing and painting are very technical, but they don't require much except persistence and the will to do it well, as well as lots and lots of time. Today I love painting because it allows me to work slowly, because a lot of water can flow under the bridges between the idea for a painting, the design and the realisation. I work on up to ten paintings at a time.
Photography is very instantaneous, the photo sessions always stress me out a little, I can't make any mistakes, it's here and now. Also, the technical equipment for the shots and the lighting adds to that stress, I find the sessions very tiring.
Thomas Berlin: To what extent should an artist be inspired at all, without primarily reproducing? This aspect was raised by French photographer Angélique Boissière in an interview with me.
Louis Treserras: All inspiration and influences are good if, and only if, you don't just copy them bluntly, but bring in as much of yourself as you have gathered from your surroundings. No artist can claim to have invented everything 100 per cent themselves. You are the product of everything that surrounds you, plus the small inner flame.
Thomas Berlin: Can you name three artists that you particularly admire?
Louis Treserras: I would name my absolute master in painting, William Bougereau, because no one has been able to surpass the quality of the skin tones of his figures. I also love Andrey Wyath for the delicacy of his watercolours and, in photography, very different worlds such as Peter Witkin or Mikio Watanabé, who are the exact opposite of my own work, since one works in morgues and the other in the darkest of lights.
Thomas Berlin: Can you say a few words about how you market your work?
Louis Treserras: My work as a painter is represented by several galleries in France. My photographs are on my computer and I don't want to sell them, except for magazines or book covers, as I have done many times.
Thomas Berlin: You sell your pictures, but not the prints of your photographs. What is the reason for this?
Louis Treserras: I don't have the material to print my pictures and I don't like the idea of entrusting it to a third party. I find that very tedious. Besides, the paths of photo galleries and galleries for paintings are not the same, nor is the clientele the same. As I've never exhibited photos before, I hardly know anything about this area.
Thomas Berlin: Is art your full-time job? And what do you like to do in your free time?
Louis Treserras: Yes, I have been painting for 40 years. Otherwise, I walk my dogs, travel or renovate and maintain a beautiful house in the south of Ardèche in France.
Thomas Berlin: Thank you very much for this interesting conversation.
You can find Louis on his website and on Instagram. Your feedback is appreciated here.
All images: © Louis Treserras
