French photographer Hervé Lassïnce is a visual artist who creates striking photos of everyday, intimate scenes involving a diverse range of people, notably capturing intimacy between Queer men. His work blends classical references with contemporary photography to create modern art.
He began taking photos professionally in 2011, when casual shots of his friends turned into showcasing them in exhibits all over France and Europe. Now Seattle is home to Lassince’s first exhibition in the United States.
Nestled in the heart of Capitol Hill, Galerie Orsay Paris-Seattle (713 Broadway E., Seattle) is showcasing a select range of his work from Nov. 6 to Dec. 20.
Lassïnce’s photography is inspired by that of Nan Goldin from the ‘80s and ‘90s, who was known for taking pictures of people in intimate relationships and Queer subcultures.
“As a Gay male [growing up], I was not surrounded with Queer images of Gay men in movies or TV shows,” Lassïnce told the SGN. “And when they had such characters in fiction, most of the time they were ridiculous [stereotypes] or very tragic. In my twenties and thirties, I was very skeptical about that and couldn’t recognize my friends.”
Lassïnce began to take photos of his friends as their raw, authentic selves, with their queerness being a natural element. Over the years, Lassïnce has gotten messages on social media from other LGBTQIA+ people about the positive impact his images have had on them.
“In this specific exhibition, there are a lot of men, a lot of Gay white men,” Lassïnce said. “But in my book, Nous, there are a lot of different people. There are old and young people, children, people I met in India or in Russia, for instance.”
When asked which of the images displayed in the gallery is his favorite, he described a photo titled “Khniss, Tunisia,” depicting a young man playing with a ball as his friend’s arm enters the frame. He said it was the perfect shot.
“Sometimes a street photographer gets this kind of luck, where everything sets in the right place at the right moment,” he said.
Simon Lhopiteau, the gallerist at Galerie Orsay Paris-Seattle, has been a good friend of Lassïnce’s for almost 15 years. He chose 16 images for the gallery to showcase, from among hundreds in Lassïnce’s portfolio.
You see a photograph, and suddenly you feel something special; you feel connected with the picture,” Lhopiteau told the SGN. “I had Hervé tell me the [stories] behind all the pictures, and he told me when he took them and circumstances surrounding them.”
Lhopiteau said he wanted people entering the gallery to have the same emotions as he did when he first laid his eyes on the photos.
With his photography, Lassïnce hopes to communicate to people all around the world in a universal language.
“That’s why a lot of people in my pictures are naked, because when you’re naked, you can’t really see where the person is from or their social origin,” he said.
More information about the exhibit can be found at https://galerieorsay.com .
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