Jean-François Bauret

Taking pictures since the early age of twelve, photographer, Jean-Francois Bauret has had a long and stellar career. In this film he sits down for an informative interview with FotoTV to discuss his work and experiences behind the camera.

Bauret shows a stunning collection of timeless images, which capture the emotions, despair and thoughtfulness of his subjects in relation to posing in front of the camera. He was always intrigued with women he found mysterious and for him photography always meant an opportunity for him to connect to people it the most personal of ways. Bauret divulges, “I would like to photograph you nude, does not sound offensive, but saying, I would like to see you nude.--that’s sounds very rude”, he says.

Although Bauret never bothered thinking about what people would say or think about his photography, many of his photos were considered unacceptable, shocking and even scandalous at the time they were produced. However, today his photos are iconic works of art, even some of the more contemporary photographers such as Annie Leibowitz have enjoyed being inspired by some of his famous images, like that of a pregnant woman he photographed in the 60’s, earning him a name as one of the first photographers to do so.

Bauret’s approach to photographing his models is not a studied trick or unique ingredient. On the contrary, he prefers not to direct his subjects, leaving them ample freedom to be themselves and authentic before the camera.