Interview with LILIAN CAZABET, FRANCE

We possess amazing promise when we were young. Nothing can match the value of what a child can reach when put in the proper environment. And, Lilian Cazabet is no exception. At a young age of 7, his parents hand him his first camera and the rest is history.

First, tell us about yourself, Lilian, and perhaps, a brief story on how and when you got your first taste of film photography.

Lilian: Hi all, I'm Lilian Cazabet and I'm 18 years old. I am currently in photography school named ETPA in Toulouse, France. 
I started photography at the age of 7 and I never stopped.
 I discovered silver photography last year and my family gave me an old camera. 
I use it mainly for everyday photography: street photo, travel photo or my mountain hikes.

What type of film do you use and what camera do you use it with? Why do you prefer these?

Lilian: I use an Ilford hp5 400 film for black and white. The contrasts are remarkable and the grain it provides adds style to the image. I use Superia 400 for color and my first two rolls are being processed. My camera is a Canon AV-1.

What do you think film has that digital doesn't have?

Lilian: In my opinion, film photography is used to rediscover the defects that make the beauty of a picture (grain, flares, desaturated colors or even veils on the image) .

Do you print your own photographs or are you comfortable having them printed in a lab?

Lilian: I have my films developed by a lab that scans my images and puts them on a disk, I was never disappointed with the final results.

What motivates you to continue making photographs with film?

Lilian: My main motivation for film photography is that I like having the suspense of waiting for the film and see if the pictures developed are well or missed. Moreover, it allows me to develop my eye (my observation) and not to photograph everything and anything.

Are there any photographers that influenced your way of making pictures?

Lilian: I draw a lot from Walker Evans, Mary Ellen Mark and Richard Avedon. Concerning recent film photographers, I like very much the photographs of Vince Perraud, Studio Bohème and Gaeta Duque.

Do you see any value shooting with film?

Lilian: The main utility of shooting in film is in my opinion do not forget the fundamentals of photography, as it was created.

What do you think is the future of film photography?

Lilian: Analog photography will never completely disappear. I know today a lot of photographers who return to this style of photography to give an authentic aspect to their images.

What’s your dream photography project?

Lilian: My dream photographic project is to realize a road trip in Australia and to discover the landscapes and people of this beautiful country.

Would you like to offer some good words to those who want to try film photography for the first time? What must they learn before venturing into this format?


Lilian: I have no particular advice to give aside may be to not focus on the camera used but rather to apply on the framing and management of the light.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and work, Lilian! I'm certain, photographers will pick valuable insights from this.

Lilian is currently working on a photo series about twins and people who work or live on heights. Watch out for that! Feel free to send him a message about his projects and perhaps collaborate with him.

See more of his work on his website, and catch up with him on his social media accounts here, Instagram: lilian_cazabet and on Tumblr.

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Be considerate. All photographs shown on this page are the sole property of Lilian Cazabet. He devoted his time, and worked so hard in making these photographs. You are not allowed to copy, download, reproduce, reprint, modify, distribute, publicly display, license, transfer or sell content retrieved from this page in any way, for any public or commercial use or to any commercial source, including other websites, without prior written permission of Lilian Cazabet. You don’t want to go to jail, do you?

If you are a passionate film photographer and would like to be interviewed? I’d love to hear from you. Send me an email at mapamelvin@gmail.com with the subject, "Interview me", and share everyone your story, thoughts, and work related to film photography. I’ll get back to you as soon as I receive your request for an interview.

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Cheers!

Mel