Behind the Image is an ongoing MODELS.com series taking a more personal look at both established and emerging creative talent.
Arnaud Lajeunie | Image courtesy of Thomas Cristiani
Arnaud Lajeunie, Photographer
Hometown/country: Paris, France
Based: Paris
Representation: Mini Title
How would you describe your work? What’s your trademark?
It’s about controlled, nuanced intensity, a tension between spontaneity and careful craft that leaves a certain aftertaste.
How did you get into your chosen career?
After several years of studying political science, I realized that while I truly enjoyed it, it wasn’t the path I wanted to pursue. So, I made a change. Photography felt right — probably because I lacked other practical artistic skills.
What inspires your creative process and influences your artistic vision?
The starting point is often a small, precise yet seemingly banal detail — such as a gesture, the way someone places their feet together on a chair, how light bounces in the corner of an image, the specific edit of a film, or even the way trash spills over from a bin. These details trigger a chain reaction of past references and current cultural perceptions. They bounce and grind against each other, eroding and reshaping one another until something gets out. I don’t really claim the virtue of inventiveness—precedents can be named for almost every aspect of my work—but I do try to be genuinely personal in this unanticipated application of various elements in this process of appropriation and imperfect assimilation.
What have you watched/heard/read lately that has inspired you?
HiTec
The Wild Goose Lake by Diao Yinan
Doubt and Belief in Painting by Robert Storr
Neon paintings series by Nina Childress
Ker- Xavier Roussel at Michael Werner
What do you love about what you do?
Melding stylistic components that are sometimes held as antithetical into a richer and cohesive whole. It is about visually manifesting vague mental ideas and representations and observing how they evolve when they collide with reality. This constant trial-and-error dynamic — and doing all of it surrounded by people I admire.
What do you hope viewers take away from experiencing your work?
I hope that they feel an immediate sense of visual pleasure, often unrelated to a specific subject. Then, an indistinct feeling of incertitude emerges when one looks closer and for longer.
Selected Work
Anipha Umufite | Image courtesy of Mini Title
AnOther Magazine AW 2024
I love working with Ursina Gysi. Over the years, we developed a very specific synergy. It’s also with her that I achieved this idea of merging past references and current cultural items mentioned above.
Image courtesy of Mini Title
MUD vol. 5 Soulac (2024)
This is the fifth volume of a long-term collaboration with Georgia Pendlebury, a pivotal project for me. The book was released in September and it’s available worldwide via Antenne Books.
Image courtesy of Mini Title
Loewe F/W 2023 Japan Men’s Campaign
This collaboration was very special, built on genuine freedom within specific guidelines.
Image courtesy of Mini Title
Flowers (2024)
A six-year research endeavor, FLOWERS is my long-lasting practice, focusing on still-life photography of handmade arrangements. EAR published the book, and it’s available at Yvon Lambert.
Szymon Bielusiak | Image courtesy of Mini Title
Arena Homme + #61 Summer/Autumn 2024 Covers
This cover illustrates my answer above well — the thrill of doing everything I love surrounded by people I truly admire. In that case, the final choice of the cover image came from a rather unexpected source.
Camille Chifflot | Image courtesy of Mini Title
Pop Magazine
I love this story and Tamara Rothstein. For years, Pop Magazine and Arena Homme + have been amazing spaces to explore new visual themes.
Roos van Bosstraeten | Image courtesy of Mini Title
A Magazine Curated By
Glenn Martens was asked to curate this issue to celebrate his ten years at Y/project. We all started together, with him and Ursina Gysi, so it was a moving moment to go back to his hometown, Bruges, and literally unleash some of the most iconic Belgium models through the busy streets, simply to document the true reactions to his designs.
