If you don’t like what you do, you will do some bad stuff

Featuring Bastien Lattanzio Words by Nastasia Khmelnitski

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Imaging yourself chilling in a sunny Moroccan riad just coming back from the recent photo shoot, ah and there’s your cat. Bastien Lattanzio, our guest for today, a fashion photographer, who worked on projects with Chanel, Opening ceremony, A.P.C., Louis Vuitton, and more.

Heat, desert, water, turquoise color, calm atmosphere, intense models bringing emotion to a photograph - that is Lattanzio. We speak about life in between Paris and Marrakech, fashion style, and pottery. Discover what you can learn from Bastien’s approach towards work with clients and balance.

‘I also love the texture of the ground and of the walls here, wabi-sabi or Arte Povera kind of thing.’

Hi Bastien, thank you so much for agreeing to share with us some of your experiences. How are you doing?

Hey guys, thanks for asking me these questions and being interested in my photos. I am good, just coming back from a shoe commercial in Paris. I am chilling with my cat in my riad in Marrakech, I share my time between Paris and here since last November.

Do you feel that living in France, the location, affects your style of photography? How?

Not really. I really never like to shoot outside in the streets of Paris, so I try to shoot in Ibiza or in Italy every time I can. I need a strong sun to build my photos, I guess.

You turn a lot to the theme of Africa and East as desert, heat, brownish colors, water. Is it a choice you have made, as this is the aesthetic you like or is it a period you caught yourself in?

As I told you I moved to Morocco last year and I chose also this place because the light is amazing, sunny almost every day, I can ask my clients to come here and stay at my place during the photo shoot. I also love the texture of the ground and of the walls here, wabi-sabi or Arte Povera kind of thing. Something very raw.

What is your favorite part of the day? Why?

The Dusk / Twilight, because the day is almost done and you can do whatever you want, the night is coming, you can become a new person now.

‘I love to have an old Japanese blue jacket with a pair of APC jeans and some raffia Moroccan loafers.’

If not photography then what?

I think maybe Art Direction or Decoration, I’d love moving to a new apartment and having a new place to decorate. My friends told me that I have a good taste so I will say that.

What can a young creator learn from your approach to the visual world 

That he has to work a lot, to try a lot of different approaches and techniques to find his own. Maybe to learn then to forget about the technique, to focus on the creation. And to enjoy himself I’ll say, if you don’t like what you do, you will do some bad stuff.

Who inspires you today? Name two best artists from the sphere?

I always loved Juergen Teller, not a huge fan of his new stuff though. I also love the job of my friend LRNCE, which is a Belgian artisan here in Marrakech, she does pottery, carpentry, etc., etc. And makes her own photos, it’s amazing.

Is there anything that can drive you crazy on the set?

People on their phones, we don’t have tons of time during the day and we need to be focused.

If you would pick a color that best represents your works what would it be?

Blue of course, but the marine one, with some white particles like in a moving sea.

You have worked on commercial projects with Supreme, Chanel, A.P.C, and many others. Seems like a dream come true. What’s next?

Yeah it’s great but it’s just the beginning, I have to be better and better, work again and again, the hard part is to find the balance between commercial jobs and editorial/personal projects.