I opened my ImageKind gallery just one year ago. I was tempted to do that sooner but i was a little frightned because i found really hard to search (and find) something on their website. So last year i found that the website was really better and i took the decision.
The IK team was very nice with me because i was a featured artist a few weeks after and they also featured the above image on their homepage.
A few months ago, i received an email from Emily at ImageKind asking if i would be ok for an interview. I hesitated a little because of my english and said yes. The interview was published two days ago on the IK blog. You can read it here. I'm very happy that's this feature arrived just for Earth Day.
After reading it i thought that it would be a good occasion to add a little more and so answer the few people who sometime ask about my life.
As told in the interview, i made some scientific studies specialized about computer things. I think i met my first computer when i was 12. It was a gray box made by Rockwell with a keyboard and a display made of 2 rows of red leds. After i had a few personal computers like Amstrad and Comodore. I bought my first PC in the early 80. It had a 640x480 monochrome display, 640 kb of ram, a 20 mb hard drive and the cost was about 1 500 euros ...
I had my first internet connection in 1987 or 88 i don't remember exactly. It was in the European Center for Nuclear Research where i was writing software to catch in a few seconds the billion events produced by particles shocks. It was a very exciting time of my life where i met some of the most famous physicians. We where working with some huge Vax computers and also some "home made" ones refreshed with water. They were looking like huge things with many pipes all around.
A few years after i had my own Compuserve connection with dialup modems. I'm not sure but i think that the first one was really under 9 600 bps.
After that i spent a few years working in the software industry before i became self employed. The move to photography is described in the interview.
Another very important thing in my life was rock climbing.
I spent around 20 years with just cliffs and boulders in my mind and was living with some friends sharing this passion. We were chasing the sun and the most overhanging rocks. Living this life while beeing in the same time a software engineer was a little tricky but also very exciting. I won't write more about this now, climbers and surfers know what is this way of life.
Last point : in the interview you can read that i'd love to run my own gallery. I've a place for that in the French Alps, just near Switzerland. I'd like it to be a nature and landscape gallery. Of course i would display my own work but i'd also like it to be a place where some other artists could organize their own exhibitions. That's not only a dream and i really think to that. Our life is just not ready for that now ...
13 comments :
Don't worry, your English is great!
I'd like to see a post about how you take your photos and what kind of art you like.
It's so nice to learn more about you! Sounds like you had everything but a boring life so far!
I too remember my first computer, a commodore 128. Those where the times...
We are born in the same year btw :)
K, thank's for your kind comment and you're right : sometimes tiring but never (or rarely) boring. I knew we are both 66ers and share some php skills :)
Christopher,
You're too nice about my english. I don't really worry but every post cost a long time and i rarely arrive to say what i really mean.
How do i take my photos ? On a technical point of view there is not one answer. I sometimes give some infos about that. You can use the tips tag in the sidebar to find most of them.
On a more general point of view i would say that i try to live the scenes with my heart and soul.
What kind of art do i like ?
Difficult question. I'm a landscapes lover that's sure but that's not all. The most regular commenters of this blog are some photographers and painters which i really like the work. And you'll see more in my tweets :)
It looks like you had to do some rock climbing to get this one - unless you can hoover in mid-air.
Enjoyed the interview - the man behind the photos...
Also I hadn't been to the patmo site to see your work in mass quantities. WOW!! That should keep me busy for a while.
Excellent interview, Patrick. Congratulations on that, and I hope it brings you some well deserved attention and hopefully new business.
(Don't worry about your English.. it's better than some natives:))
I guess it's not really a surprise, but I could have written your last paragraph here word for word,(except substitute for the French Alps). That's my exact intention, too. We built a home in a small arts-oriented mountain community and plan to live there and have have a gallery for myself and other friends and locals. Unfortunately, the business climate is so bad right now, especially for "unnecessary" things like fine art, that it seems to be a little further off than it was. Some formerly successful galleries have closed and gone away. I have enough to worry about just keeping my commercial work going for now.
I'm sure your full size prints are stunners.. really hope to see them in person one day.
Wow! You are actually a physicist????!!!!
And you chase the sun, too!!! While climbing rocks!!!! Bravo!!!
And you chase the sun, too!!! While climbing rocks!!!! Bravo!!!
Hey!!! I read your interview...I think I haven't seen that photo before...the Vapors Over La Pradet!!! Beautiful!!!
Mark,
When i speak about this project, peoples look at me just like if i was a crazy guy. So i'm really happy to learn that i'm not alone :)
About the unnecessary things i agree with you of course but i also have noticed that sometimes people prefer buying something they want instead of something they need...
Charity,
I'm not a physicist although i love to understand how the things work, i was just writing software for them.
About the Vapors, i'm surprised you just discovered it now. It's really one of my favorites.
OOH, congrats on your interview! I have to go over to read it!
I know! I am surprised, myself! How could I have just seen that now???
And...it is almost Mother's Day! I hope people will stop thinking about flowers and start thinking about your photos! ;-)
Like you said...flowers die... hahahahahhahaha!
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