Andy Julia is a fashion photographer from France. He’s done work for some big name clients including Nuits de Satin. TLP conducted this interview over April and May of 2008. We asked Andy to comment on some of his favorite photo shoots.
This was a shoot for SABRINA NADAL, a fine French lingerie designer. I choose Beata, a beautiful nymphet. She has all the attributes of a woman and a little girl…maybe this is the main aspect of this shoot, the story of a tiny girl in a body of a perfect young woman. The shoot was done in a soft, creamy, old apartment. It was the Paris home of Swedish stylist MIA BENGTSSON. This shoot was like a long beautiful holiday. The team was entirely women. Very often in my work. I appreciate being surrounded by femininity and sensitivity because it is my exact opposite. I learn a lot from my team and in the intimate movements of my model. I did the shoot with an analog process, medium-format camera. After I scanned the negatives, I retouched the pictures to give a feeling of softness, perfection, and discretion.
This was the first personal shooting I made using the corsets and vintage collection of NUITS DE SATIN PARIS. Tiffany, the model had caught my eye at the agency. I saw a delicate tiny girl in a body of strong and imposing person. She’s very tall, her long legs give her an aspect of sylph, reminding me of a snake or a dangerous cat. This shoot started my work with NUITS DE SATIN PARIS, as the official photographer of the trademark. My pictures are used at PRINTEMPS (French department store). One of the pictures was even used by DIVA’s agency to create the official visual of the Salon de la Lingerie de Paris, Porte de Versailles, for 2008.
Andy Julia: ‘Nuits de Satin’ »
This shoot was one of my first orders from a client. I used an analog process and retouching the photos afterwards. The client, NUITS DE SATIN PARIS, loved the test I had done with the vintage pieces that they asked me to create something similar, but softer and more influenced by the 1950s. This first picture shoot was more clearly 1930s. The beautiful Tia from FORD models was asked for. It was a pleasure to work with her, she is like a discrete abyss in with you can drown yourself with delicacy and pleasure.
Andy Julia: ‘Nuits de Satin’ »
FANNY LIAUTARD is a genius of precision and a talented artist of many materials…silk, muslin, organza, lace, satin, cotton, pearls, and brush feathers. Everything is made to wrap the woman’s body withhout blocking it in a rigid box. I wanted to explore the impertinence of the woman from the 1920s. The Imperial theatre of Compiegne was the perfect place to translate this feeling. It is a copy of the Versailles Theater, but not finished. Everything is only stucco and painted in white, but no gold, no painting, nothing…it was a gift from Napoleon III to his favorite lover.
Andy Julia: ‘Fanny Liautard’ »
I made the story with the french Fashion Editor CAROLINE SIMON. I just rented a small bedroom with aspects of a countryside house from the 18th century. Kaya was the model…she was incredibly cold and quiet. She was like a dead soul, a cold presence form the north that you cannot really forget. She just said few polite words and she ate a lot of chocolate. It was a pleasure for me to see a beautiful model like her, giving herself the pleasure of delicate candies during a shoot. I love when models are natural. They are never more beautiful than when they are purely themselves.
Pictures courtesy of Andy Julia. Visit Andy at his website: http://www.andyjulia.com/home.htm or his MySpace page where Andy blends his influences, his works, his muses, and his friends. Vote on Andy’s work at You Say Too.
