Thomas Dhellemmes

Born in 1963 inFrance, Thomas Dhellemmes lives and works in Paris.

Thomas Dhellemmes has been passionate about photography since his childhood. After studying visual arts, he went to live in the Cape Verde Islands. When he moved back to Paris, he decided to dedicate himself entirely to photography. He developed personal artistic projects while earning a living by doing photography commissions (lifestyle, gastronomy, luxury...) with Atelier Mai 98, the creative photographic studio he founded.

Thomas Dhellemmes has primarily expressed himself by using his Polaroid SX 70 camera. He likes the timelessness, uniqueness and slowness of every picture. The camera’s imprecision gives the spectator a total freedom of interpretation. As a traveling photographer, Thomas Dhellemmes continually searches for a moment of absolute grace. His photographs speak of existence and of the fragility of life with its ephemeral nature. He nurtures a mysterious distance with each subject

“ Jour bleu is a voyage into my intimate life. My images are enigmatic, imprecise and damaged, like abstractions similar to painting. This resembles my memories that, over the years, have slowly been erased from my recollections. All that remain from these voyages are moments of abundance, of happiness. A moment each person has already felt in his life. A timeless, universal moment. “

The meeting happened on a summer day in Tangiers. And then the years passed. But the blue, resembling silence, remains. Inhabited. Full. Tahar Ben Jelloun’s words coexist with Thomas Dhellemmes’ images taken on his blue, melancholic, uncertain days. He began to write poems without a specific project in mind. Just writing, under the open sky, on the sea, by a cross. He knew nothing about the places, dates or countries Thomas had crossed in moments plucked from the past with extreme softness.

Julie Estève, writer