What does a photographer do when he does not take pictures? He still takes pictures. Or he writes. Or he dreams that he writes and photographs. This is the case of Julien Mignot, accustomed to press orders (and collaborator Libération), always by mountains and valleys to meet the needs of its sponsors. Between two utilitarian shots, he steals moments at the time, retains the leak as one tries to capture a dream. Like this thin yellow garden hose that fills a pool of blue-green water, the photographer knows that there is no escape: the drops spinning in the ocean, it is illusory to retain them.
However, all the photographs [of this book] are ramparts to the oblivion and the race of everyday life, moments to oneself, intimate visions. He drew on the “miscellaneous” file on his computer and extracted these photographs taken between 2009 and 2016, which did not find any takers, those that do not play any role, those he kept for him. He shares them today, very simply, in the form of multiple size prints, projection or light strips with twelve slides. The images are indifferently in black and white or in color. They do not have a particular style or underlying idea. In moments of “letting go”, as he says, in these in-between, he delicately grasps hugs, a tree in winter or beautiful cars. […]
Clémentine Mercier