Gilles de Beauchêne is an established fine art photographer based in Paris, France. Using a mix of analog and digital photography, his images, aesthetically flawless and surreal in appearance, are both obsessive and elegant. Born in 1964 Gilles de Beauchêne has been an advertising photographer for more than 30 years. In order to escape the shackles of the 'brief' imposed by his clients, he started to build in 2006 an artistic work made of creations out of his imagination, not series but single image which from year to year reveal the themes that preoccupies or obsessed him. Advertising as propaganda tools, modernity versus tradition, abandonment and confinement, woman’s complexity.
His last corpus ‘How the West was lost’ reflects his perception of the conquest of the American West, filled by his memories of westerns watched on TV when he was a child. He takes very few photographs a year because from idea to completion it can take several months to find the ideal team. He always begins by drawing his project, and then assembled all the elements that will constitute his final image. Several days of shooting are often necessary. In his studio, it's a team of 4-5 people working together; a model, clothes and hair stylists, makeup artist, model maker, 3D design.
Gilles made the transition from film photography to digital, he knows perfectly how to use studio lights and digital tools. He is only satisfied when he has found the perfect light, the right colours, consistent shadows, and how to fit each part with the others, like in a puzzle.