LAETITIA VANCON is a French photographer, who started her photography career after studying engineering for 7 years. After that career not fulfilling her, she changed her path and found photography. Her photography acted as a healing process, and helped her to feel herself again. VANCON wanted her photography to interrogate society, their place in society and their true identity. These aspects that she photographs around are easy for her to photograph because they are familiar to her. VANCONs’ approach to these aspects are a mix between journalism and poetry.
“ Photography is interesting because it’s limiting. It doesn’t tell actually the all story. It lets a lot of space for the viewers to fill up the gap with their own personal stories, that is -in my opinion- the magic of photography.“
– LAETITIA VANCON
In this image all the colours are fairly muted, apart from the yellow coat that the man is wearing, which is bright and stands out really nicely on the dark colours in the background. Has VANCON done this for a reason? Does the subject in the yellow coat have some significance? As a viewer we really don’t know, however we can make up our narrative for who he is. Is he a commercial fisherman out on a boat catching fish to supply his town with food, or is this his hobby? There are a wide range of different tones of light and dark. The birds that are in the sky act as leading lines to draw the viewers’ eyes towards the subject in the yellow coat. This image comes from the project by LAETITIA VANCON, At The End Of The Day. In this project, VANCON looks at showing those in the Herbredies identities.
After researching LAETITIA VANCONs’ project, At The End Of The Day, I have found that it falls within the categories that I am using as inspiration for my project. The categories being, LIMITATIONS AND FREEDOMS, and this is because, VANCON explains how some of the islander from the Outer Hebrides feel they are trapped on the island, but however some feel free living on the island. The island has different meanings to everyone that lives there, but the island is significant to them in someway. These ideas that have been sparked by LAETITIA VANCON are something that I too what to investigate. All the individuals that I am going to be interviewing live on Jersey. Do any of the aspects of Jersey make them feel free or limited, similarly to those who live in the Outer Hebrides Islands.