There are a lot of photographers, artists and graphic designers whose talents and work should be known by everyone. Florent Tanet is one of them. This multifaceted French artist is based in Paris where he works at the intersection of art, sculpture, graphic design and photography. His still-life artworks transport us to a world of colour and satisfying orderliness. Let yourself be inspired by the art of Florent Tanet.
Your work seems truly vocational. Did you always want to be an artist? Tell us about your beginnings.
Yes I have always been creative. I would draw a lot and it is something that has followed me throughout my life. However I discovered photography a little later, only three years ago in fact. I always wanted to do different things, I have studied textile design, fashion and art direction. Before becoming a photographer I was a trend fashion designer and the assistant of the art director Marc Ascoli.
At first sight, your work seems to be about placing different pieces together to make and aesthetically pleasing compositions. What’s the secret to your success?
My photographic work is like graphic design work. I create compositions with a few things, it becomes a game with shapes. I try to be very precise and do a lot of composition research…
Colour and playfulness are essential parts to your artwork, right? Why?
I love working on colourful projects, it's very important for me to be able to reflect on colours. It's probably because of my studies in textile design. I have always been interested by artists such as Erwin Wurm or Wim Delvoye, who always use humour in their work. I like playing with objects and shapes.
What or who do you draw inspiration from?
I take a lot of pictures of daily life with my phone and do a lot of research on the Internet. I collect images and am very attentive to my surroundings and the creative possibilities of daily life.
What are your influences?
My influences are very varied. Of course, I follow many works of still-life photographers like Schelten & Abbenes, Carl Kleiner, Qiu Yang or Lorenzo Vittori etc. But I am also part of Internet culture, I spend a lot of time on Tumblr, Pinterest and websites like Selectism - Latent Image etc.... It is a real crossroads of influences!
Which one of your pieces, photos or artworks are you most proud of?
The series Colorful Winter won me a lot of recognition because it was a new way of working with food images. I also like the “sport” series I made for Blackrainbow magazine. These are projects where I was very free.
Europe and especially Paris are considered to be the centres of the art world. How do you see the art scene? Do you consider it difficult for an artist to make a living with his or her work?
There is a certain artistic effervescence in Paris, but it is also very difficult to be visible. The Parisian life is expensive and it is difficult to make a living from one’s art here. However, many customers, magazines and galleries are in Paris. Furthermore, it is also very close to London, Brussels, Amsterdam and Germany,where there are limitless opportunities and interactions.
You have worked with many famous brands like L’Oreal and Lacoste and have been prominently featured in the media, for example L’Officiel or The New Yorker.
I have a personal aesthetics that everyone can recognize easily and that can adapt to many different mediums – fashion, food, sports, etc. I try to be versatile and try to work constantly on my artistic practice.
What is your day to day life like?
I start the day by going in the studio Fonta Fonta that I share with other designers in Eastern Paris. Like many people I begin by check my emails! Then, I start my photo projects, start shooting or prepare my set in the studio. There are many exchanges with other artists in the Fonta Fonta studio, we develop a lot og things like exhibitions or the creation of the materials collection...
How do you see your future? Where do you see yourself in five years?
I hope to continue to work on editorial projects, mainly abroad and make more artistic projects.
