Who?
My name is Pierre Belhassen, I was born and raised in Paris and currently live in Marseille, France.
After studying Cinema, I started taking pictures in 2006. After a long apprenticeship in analog black and white, I started working in color in 2012. Today I work as a freelance photographer and since 2016 I have been working for Le Journal Agency, based in Istanbul.
Where?
Wherever there’s something to see, I photograph by intuition. The atmosphere of a place first, then the shapes, colours and finally the energy of the place inspire me. I’m looking above all for the vibrations of a place, always in search of inspiration. At the moment I focus on the cities of Marseille and Istanbul. But it could be anywhere, you never know where you’ll meet chance.
When?
By period, I can stay whole months without photographing, then devote every minute of my time to the shooting. I can photograph a lot on a relative and short period. Outside these periods I try to distance myself from photography by turning to cinema, music or literature.
What?
People, either their shadows, or their tracks, I like narrative images including people.
I am fascinated by the “theatre of life”. I am interested in people’s attitudes and actions. For me to photograph is more to recognize than to see, it is what I try to do while walking the streets: to find a passage between the reality of the moment and my own universe.
Why?
For my pleasure! Nothing is better than photographing life, it’s like diving into the moment, synchronizing your heartbeat with the energy of life. I like to hunt something I don’t know, looking for the accident, the fragility of a situation and try to orchestrate all that between 4 lines. For a few years, I’ve been trying to build up my own language but bringing it to maturity is a considerable job…the road is still long…but I still have energy!