Chasing The Light Between Us

Olivier Coquelle’s photographs are not just a study of the effects of light, but also how it can be used to weave a graphical narrative, discovers Conchita Fernandes.

- Conchita Fernandes

The expeditious nature of street photography is very often mistaken as a physical aggression, on the photographer’s part, usually seen as an incoherent sprint from one point to the other; when in fact it also involves the aggression or swiftness of the mind’s eye to anticipate and recognise the opening of that transitory window of light, and then knowing when to harvest it by pressing the camera’s shutter. For Olivier Coquelle, a photographer based in Lyon, France, street photography is precisely this, the latter.

Identifying The Protagonist In Your Frame

For Olivier, the subject is the integral part of the photograph. “It gives life to the picture, in the way it affects the other elements and alleviates the overall feel of the image.” Light and composition are what he likes to call the “jewellery case”. “It has a functionary role, that of a mediator, tying in all the parts in the frame.” When shooting, he prefers a more calculated approach, instead of being driven by impulse. “All my pictures are thought out beforehand. I choose the place and wait for as long as it’ll take me to find that sliver of light to immortalise,” he says.

Deciding When to use B&W or colour