[EN] VISION #61 — Lucia Bell-Epstein

VisionSaison 5

29 avr.

For this interview, I met Lucia at the Belleville agency where I work, a stone's throw from the Buttes Chaumont park in the 19th arrondissement. It was a sunny Saturday morning and we had a long chat, happily lingering in these empty offices. I was particularly struck by Lucia's insatiable curiosity, her many inspirations and interests, and her appetite for everything that surrounds her. Each of her answers raised a new question in my head, and we bounced from one subject to another very quickly. In fact, I must admit that I quickly abandoned the list of questions I'd printed out for myself. Probably also because it was my first interview with an artist of my age and I was particularly curious to understand her views on the world in which our generation lives, evolves, commits and creates… And because photography, with its eye for detail and its ability to convey a personal vision, is a particularly rich medium when it comes to questioning and interpreting this very world. Even when it shows 'simple', everyday things. Cutlery and a plate lying around at the end of a meal, legs crossed under a table, the gesture of a first bite...

This is precisely the approach taken by Lucia, a self-taught photographer and gastronomy lover born in New York, where she still lives. The result of these two passions is a body of work that she dedicates mainly to the world of cooking and restaurants, her first profession, but which breaks with the traditional codes of food photography.

Lucia's images are not studio shots, where everything is under control, the light is set, and the food and objects are perfectly presented and static. Rather, the photographer likes to immerse herself in the 'organised chaos' of a restaurant kitchen. For her, this chaos is like a ballet, a collective choreography whose steps and codes she has learned to master - and anticipate. Trained as a chef before taking up photography, Lucia's seeks to capture everything that happens before the food is eaten, everything that is "invisible" to the eye once it's on the plate. The timing, the precision of gestures, the sequence of movements, the rules of hygiene, the unexpected, the accident... But also the intimate relationships within a team and the collective aspect of this profession, and more broadly, the place of food in our human relationships.

In this podcast, Lucia recounts how the Bowery district of New York, where she grew up surrounded by stainless steel restaurant supply shops, has been a great source of culture and inspiration for her. Indeed the area has developed considerably over the years, both gastronomically and artistically. She also talks about the influence of her parents, both artists (photographer Mitch Epstein and writer and editor Susan Bell), who introduced her to the creative process at a very early age, and with whom she now enjoys a close friendship and artistic collaboration. She tells us about her background and the need to "do something with her hands" after studying at university, her beginnings in restaurants as a commis and then as a cook, and the impact of this profession on her approach to photography. Her approach is very sensory, in the way she relates to colours and textures, fuelled by her passion for cooking, painting and visual arts in general. It's also inspired by American food culture and the iconography of fast-food advertising. Lucia's work is also above all intimate, born of moments shared with her family, friends and the people she works with, often around cooking.