Documenting his life since he was only thirteen, Pierre-Ange Carlotti welcomes us into the intimacy of his unconventional life. He’s originally from Corsica, but has been calling Paris his home for almost a decade now. Through his pictures we are treated to a glimpse of the raw and unprocessed pieces of himself and the people he holds dearest. His latest project, Bachelor, is a book that explores his personal relationship status as a twenty-eight-year-old single man, which he will be presenting and signing this Friday 21st July at 032c’s workshop space in Berlin. We discuss love, heartbreak, and the dichotomy of loneliness and freedom that being single can bring to an individual.
Did you always like taking pictures? When did you decide that you wanted to make photography your career?
I’ve been taking pictures since my childhood. My mother always gave me cameras to play with, and I was taking polaroids of my idols on TV. Since the age of thirteen I'd never go out without a camera. My first show, Bored and Naked, was to me the beginning of something I would have to take seriously.
What inspires you most?
Most of the people I spend time with, even boring people.
Tell us about your latest project, Bachelor?
I wanted to talk about being single in the middle of a crowd filled with couples and other lonely people. About the need we all have to be with someone; I’m just wondering how important it is to be a couple and why. People will always think that someone who died single has been sadder than someone married. I guess that sucks.
It’s an undeniable fact that society pressures us into finding a stable lover, soul mate, or partner. To you, what are the best and worst things about being a bachelor?
Being free but feeling lonely. I guess you can’t be a duo and be free, and freedom is a beautiful feeling. The only thing is that sometimes your freedom takes up the space that could be for someone else.
What does love mean to you? Have you ever been in love?
I don’t know how to define love, but I do think sometimes I would like to have a house next to the beach, where I could sell flowers or run a bar, and die in love. What I mean is I’m the kind of person who can just quit everything because of my feelings. I had my heart broken three times.
All of your images seem like candid shots that evoke a very raw feeling to them. How were you able to capture such intimate moments?
I’ve been documenting my life; I feel like my personal work is my diary, and the people I include in it are already so close to me that they don’t feel offended. People I care for are used to it.
Does capturing and documenting such personal moments of your life and your friends ever worry you or make you think you’re over-sharing? What are your thoughts on privacy and mixing your private and professional life?
I do consider the question of sharing/over-sharing, and if my pictures are very intimate is because they are only a shot of a memory. I think that as long as the real situation, story and background are kept between the people who lived them, this is not over-sharing. I never felt like I was losing control of my intimacy; it might not be the first thing you see but I’m more prude than it seems.
If viewers could take away one thing from your work, what would you like that to be?
I would like them to catch the romance.
From DJs to models, to designers, your close circle of friends includes some of the most creative minds in Paris right now; the people who, in my personal opinion, brought fun, youth and innovation back into the city. Are there any new talents we should keep our eyes out for?
He’s named Lauren Auder, we are born on the same day, he’s such a romantic character and I think his music is as special as he is. He’s not living in Paris but we met here on my first shoot for Dazed. I introduced him to Tomorrow is Another Day and I shot him for the cover of the last issue of Dust magazine. He’s working on his first album.
You were born in Corsica, an island in the south east of France, but have been living in Paris for ten years now. Do you see yourself in any other city in the future?
Paris will always be home in a way but I don’t project myself later than August, I can’t.
If you had to describe the present Parisian scene in three words, what would they be?
Not lazy wankers.
Pierre-Ange Carlotti will be presenting and signing Bachelor from 20:00h to 23:30h this Friday 21th at 032c’s workshop in Brunnenstrasse, 9, Berlin.
