Interview
Alain Boccard
Alain Boccard is a French photographer known for capturing the beauty of everyday life, particularly through abstract and minimalist styles. His work often focuses on hidden details in urban environments, where he plays with colour, shape and texture to highlight the extraordinary in the ordinary. Alain Boccard has been recognised for his unique approach, winning the London Photography Award Gold Medal in 2024 for his architectural photography, and the European Photography Awards in the Street Photography category.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“Born in 1959 in Cannes, a town famous, among other things, for its International Film Festival, it was finally in the heart of Provence that I discovered light and color. I was soon drawn to abstract art, particularly geometric abstraction, and for over twenty years now I've been trying to play with shapes, materials and colors. I'm looking for beauty and harmony in the everyday environment.”
What inspires you?
“The pictorial schools of geometric abstraction and constructed art have particularly influenced me. The photographer Franco Fontana also inspires me a great deal. I love seeking out the singular beauty of our everyday lives, looking for the thousand and one details that call on us to change the way we look at our urban environment.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“I don't tell stories, or rather, I leave it up to everyone to read them in my images. There is little visible human presence in my photos, and yet people are very much present. I don't try to tell; seeing is already such a vast undertaking. There is a beautiful, ordered totality around us that it is up to us to encounter...”
How would you describe your work?
“I try to strike a balance between shapes, materials and colours. I look for details that surprise. I'm happy when people say to me ‘From now on, I'll look around me in a different way...’”
Which artists influence you most?
“In painting, geometric abstraction, the Fauves, Pierre Bonnard, Mark Rothko, Eugène Leroy, Picasso for his perpetual research and so many others. In photography, Steve Mc Curry, Saul Leiter, William Eggleston for architectural photography, Michael Wolf and Stephane Couturier. Franco Fontana, Lucien Hervé, Bernd and Hilla Becher. Harry Gyuyaert, with his mastery of colourful compositions, is also an indisputable master.”
“I don't tell stories, or rather, I leave it up to everyone to read them in my images.”
What is your creative process like?
“Walking with my head up, discovering the unknown, returning to the same places to deepen my vision and each time discovering something new in what I've already seen.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“Pushing open doors, opening windows and stepping aside to make way.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“The most recent is Salles des Gardes at Château de Gordes, Photographic Encounters at Pont Saint-Esprit Lavoir Vasserot, Saint-Tropez.”
Website: alainboccard.fr
Instagram: @alain__boccard
