Interview with Marie Marchandise

Marie Marchandise @chezvouschezmoi 

Movements series with Michelle TSM²

(@michelletsm2_), Agnès Tassel (@atassel), Hugo Bardin (@hugobardinpaloma), Océane Susini (@oceanesusini) 

How would you describe yourself and your artwork?

I’m a 27 years old chronically ill woman, a self-taught artist, an art director, and a fashion photographer and I work in fashion PR. 

Simply put, I really love being multitasked and in charge of all the steps leading to a beautiful editorial explained and shared across the world.
All of this, while taking time because I need it and believe that every art piece must be meaningful, and by its own nature must require time.
The artwork Movements is built on passion and patience.
It encapsulates the different aspects of my jobs, as it is based on a specific art direction, constructed with a casting of creative persons, materialized through artistic and evocative compositions, and described in a press kit I wrote. 

The series was developed and published according to my own pace and needs. 

Movements is a two parts photoshoot that took place between Paris and Toulouse.
It is a remote photo shoot whose photos resulting from it were printed and assembled in different collages. 

It is a collective work, with a team composed of talented persons: Michelle Tshibola, artist, seamstress, and owner of the brand Michelle TSM² (@michelletsm2_), Agnès Tassel (@atassel) model, Hugo Bardin (@hugobardinpaloma) hair artist, Océane Susini (@oceanesusini) make up artist, and I, the photographer, art director, and PR executive.

Michelle Tshibola is a woman whose genius radiates through a wide range of skills: dancing, voguing, modelling, sewing, and owning her own studio and brand. Each of these different talents is linked as Michelle loves introducing who she is thanks to rhythmic movements and the garments that fly in the air or twirl gracefully in sync with her body: clothes.
Agnès Tassel is a model who can interpret every spirit and character. Whatever the photoshoot story, she is always fully committed to throwing herself into the fray for the team she works with. From her perfect delicate hand gestures to her magnetic facial expressions, each of her poses always brings a new dimension to the project. 

Hugo Bardin is a versatile artist. He proficiently shines on and off camera as a director, scriptwriter, actor, hairstylist, makeup artist, and costume designer. He also performs on stage as a drag queen artist under the name “Paloma.”

If Hugo has more than one string to his bow, his mastering of creative skills is displayed in his meticulousness: giving life to a character, finding the perfect angle, beautifying eyes or lips.

Océane Susini is an accomplished creative professional who has chosen to express her artistry through makeup and hairdressing. To fulfil it, she always focuses on modernity, precision, and uniqueness: the modernity of the makeup, the precision of her touch, and the uniqueness of the model’s skin. 

How do you go about beginning a new piece? Do you have an idea already in mind, or do you start working with materials or sketches to find the departure point?

It depends on who I work for and with. As I work with tailors, seamstresses, and garment makers, each of my pieces revolves around the designer’s touch. I want the series to echo the story of the collection, the fashioner’s inspirations, or even their original mission, meaning: why they chose to dedicate their career to fashion.

Movements is inherently related to the core of Michelle TSM²’s beautiful work. Michelle has chosen tulle as her primary creative way to express herself. Tulle was historically often hidden under other fabrics in underskirts, gowns, and dresses to create volume and abundance while enhancing the visible fabric. When she started, Michelle wanted to only focus on this fragile and complex material, to be visible and not covered behind layers of other cloth, and to give this textile several dimensions through many clothes’ structures and proportions.
Afterwards, she has started to create other outfits in nylon and viscose.
She is willing to elegantly take room and space always in dreamy apparel.
Movements’ refined art direction alludes to Michelle’s perspective on fashion. It’s not about simplicity, rather about the endless possibilities that fabric and photography offer in terms of storytelling. The only connecting thread is the beauty and ingenuity of handmade creation. This was my starting point. With a solid basis, new ideas, steps, and achievements come faster and enrich the process and the whole editorial. 

When do you think your most prolific time of day or week is?

As I’ve got a chronic illness, it depends on my energy. It can be in the morning or late at night. It’s something that I experience one day at a time and so every moment’s unique. 

One thing that I always do, though, is to keep Post everywhere at home to note down ideas and concepts to explore, whether I’m tired or fully rested.

What is a barrier you as an artist overcame? Is there anything that enabled you to develop your work as an artist in your life?

Being taken seriously is something that I’ve achieved through the years.
When I was 17 only, I started my blog on which I posted photographs. Of course, my interest in art and photography quickly developed with time. However, as I never attended any art school, I hadn’t the “best photography gear” and I never went to Paris or Arles, I was quickly negatively judged. It was all about superficiality and about who I was and I wasn’t, for them.
I found myself lost in a downward spiral because I didn’t and still don’t check all the boxes of the “What makes a “real” photographer” to-do list.
Years later, I’ve learned that I don’t need tofulfill the expectations of people who are willing to label who I am so rapidly, simply because they think that my journey doesn’t correspond to the “norm”. I don’t need a to-do list, simply because there’s no to-do list. 

I found people online and through the world that take time to see my work, discover my inner world, and share with me their constructive feedback. I found people who are open-minded, do not despise self-teaching, and value hard work. I found people that give me a chance to let my voice be heard and who, by being who they are, shatter nonsensical “requirements” and smash prejudiced beliefs about what constitutes a “real” photographer. 

Did you have an idea of what you wanted to create right from the beginning?
For Movements, I sorted out a few ideas connected directly to the theme of the series and the relationships between photography, fashion, and fabric. I wanted to produce unique movements, that both relate to the principles of photography (by creating and photographing a flipbook, for instance) and the craft of fashion (by reproducing a fabric drape).
I considered then a few concepts to be developed for the visual effects and wrote down ideas about matching textures and color codes for the art direction. I then noted down the poses and the types of shots and angles I wanted. We proceeded to the remote shoot and concentrated on producing a solid basis for the collages: Agnès Tassel wore the clothes and the clothes didn’t wear her. It was essential for us that she provided a sense of liveliness through her poses. This vibrancy is similar to the energy that Michelle delivers while she creates her pieces. The makeup and the hairstyle were perfect as well: thanks to Océane Susini, the light was beautifully reflected on Agnès’ skin and the colors were sharp. Thanks to Hugo Bardin, the hairstyle was elegant, flattering, and timeless.
Later, I edited the shots, and then the best part happened: I printed the shots, started to cut the different portraits, and was confronted with reality: the making of the collages.
I had to manage the making of correct compositions with the different parts being assembled, the realization of the visual effects, the light manipulations, the relationship with fabric, and the core of the editorial.

From my ideas and the basic principles thanks to which Movements have been enriched to the final results, there have been layers of thoughts, tests, connections, and handling.

What is the meaning or creative inspiration for your work? We’re curious what the narrative or story is to what you are producing?

Catching movements is what I enjoy the most in fashion photography. I love freezing motions, capturing elegant and graceful details, and finding a new dimension from what I see. The lightness of a dress, the grace of a model, the emotion of a face that stirs: all these gestures and movements are pure emotions translated into a body. All of them are a blessing, and represent the privilege that is photography, as you can keep them forever. 

As I was quarantined in 2020-21 due to my chronic illness and as I’m still at risk concerning Covid, I had and still have to find solutions, new ways of working safely, new means to boost my creativity and to suspend moves in space and time. I want to be safe, manage my energy levels, and feel the vitality of on-site photoshoots.

That's how I decided to create handmade collages at home with shots from the remote photoshoot with Michelle, Agnès, Hugo, and Océane. These different artistic compositions enabled me to create specific movements and motions, find another type of energy and let my imagination run wild. I found a sense of escapism and enthusiasm.

The series is about dealing with a new artistic process in itself. In Movements, there are also plenty of allusions about my chronic illness: I incorporated references to walking, resting, sleeping, breathing in and out.

Through my work, I want to remind people that there are other ways to work as a photographer and that chronically ill artists must have access to creatively fulfilling opportunities. 

Besides your artworks, are there any other things in life that your voice as an artist may consider vital or valuable? What makes you joyful and creative, in other words?

Through the years, I’ve learned to take care of myself, value myself, and hold myself accountable. Day after day, I am grateful to the few people that surround me in my personal life, who love me and respect me: my parents, my brothers, and my friends.

Whether it concerns my condition or my jobs, knowing that they honor me with their presence, their authenticity and honesty in my life is more than a gem, it’s a resource. I know I can weather the storm with them.
My greatest moments of joy and creativity are entwined with who they are and the moments I spend with them. They are my light and my darkness, inspire me, motivate me, hold my hand, help me unwind and let go, and then to move on to my next chapter. 

Are there any exhibitions or places where people can see these beautiful creations in person soon? Anything on the horizon?

I am currently working on a new collages’ series with an amazing fashion designer named Meg J. Gardner (@meg.j.gardner.design). We did a remote photo shoot between Toulouse and Manchester whose shots and collages are directly inspired by Meg’s Tempus 360 collection. It’s again an impressive teamwork founded on an elaborated art direction, with Hannah Doyle (@hannahdoyle_x) who was the model of the shoot, Georgia Hodds (@hoddsygmua) the makeup artist and hairdresser, and Ringaile Narkeviciute (@mellow.focus) the lighting director and second photographer.

Website: https://chezvouschezmoi.co