Flore Diamant

Flore Diamant is a Belgian photographer and graphic designer who studied in Bath Spa University. Her passion for film photography helps her capture her life on the road – from sunny beaches to crawling cities and every pitstop in between.

By focusing her lens on quiet moments – empty train stations, backs of heads in front of stunning vistas, closely cropped hands and secretly peeped feet – Flore’s images have a suggestive quality that hint at an adventure, experience or feeling just beyond the photograph’s grasp. Full of potential, her images draw us in to their Godard-esque frames and leave us creating our own backstories.

When/why did you start shooting pictures?
I’ve always photographed what was around me since a pretty young age, as I always thought it was a nice thing to look back on. I started studying graphic design and kept on photographing day-to-day life as a sort of side project. I sometimes used it in my work but it was a nice distraction as well and I could keep on experimenting as much as I wanted… My camera has been to so many places in the world, it’s sort of a travel companion now. I know that whatever I photograph with it will come out as I’ve wanted it to, which is the magic of film photography.

What things/subjects/locations are you drawn to in your photography?
It’s usually what is around me – people or places. I work with the available natural light, and and after living in the UK for four years (where the sun doesn’t always shine), I’ve learnt to work with shadows and shapes to compromise the possible lack of light. I’m interested in capturing the details that go unnoticed, the essence of a moment or emotion.

How would you describe your photography style?
Atmospheric and relaxed street/social photography.

Who/what inspires your work? Any other photographers?
My work is always inspired but the situation I’m in, and the result is a reaction to a place, people or an environment. I’ve grown up in a very culturally diverse environment which has influenced how I see and perceive things. I’m always discovering new talents and find it incredible how easy it is to see other photographer’s work nowadays. There are also so many great magazines out there about travel, photography or design which I tend to collect and gather inspiration from, such as Bad Day or The Travel Almanac. In a more general perspective, the work of street photographers such as Weegee and Cartier-Bresson generally inspire my taste in photography.

What do you do for a living and how does photography fit into your life?
I’ve just graduated so I’m currently in-between places, which means I have a lot of time on my hands to experiment. So I’m trying some new things with medium format and black and white film. I always take my camera wherever I go, so I’m in a way always photographing as well as doing something else. I’m trying to improve my music photography, so I’ve been going to a lot of concerts lately which is a great combination of two things I appreciate.

How do you share your work? What’s the editing process like for you? Are you trying to tell stories with your images?
It is so easy to share your work nowadays, so I’ve always tried to be quite consistent at blogging and posting things online. I have a few ‘zine projects planned but they haven’t come to life yet. It is quite controversial in a way, as I’m only doing film photography, which is a very manual and handy process, but most of it ends up being used digitally. As my work is mostly documentary, it naturally tells a story and I personally think that my images work better as a collection than individually.

What are those stories?
I try to capture the daily moments that go unnoticed because of the constant need for change and innovation in this generation where everything evolves so quickly. I try to capture these moments because I think people (myself included) take a lot of them for granted.

Are your photos staged/posed or documentary? Can you describe why you choose to shoot in this way?
None of my photographs are staged, as it alters reality in a way, and capturing the moment as you see it is much more exciting and challenging than creating a moment that didn’t happen.

How do you hope viewers respond/engage with your photography?
I hope it pushes people to just enjoy small things and grab each day as it comes. I have an urge to travel and discover new things and I hope it translates in my work and encourage others to explore too.

What are your plans for the future?
In the new year I’m hoping to travel somewhere new, and hopefully do some work while I’m there. I’m really drawn to Australia these days but that might change. Surviving winter is also in the agenda, as the lack of daylight and cold is not my favourite.

You can see more of Flore’s dreamy photography on her tumblr Microprism.

Are you a film photography fan? To be considered for a slot on the Huck site, send a folio of 10 analogue images to [email protected] using the subject line MY LIFE IN ANALOGUE.

Submissions made before December 20, 2013, will be entered into a competition to win a Lomography camera. See competition for further details.

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