JEAN-DANIEL LORIEUX - Under the Sun Exactly

Leclaireur Boissy d'Anglas welcomes Jean-Daniel Lorieux for a singular exhibition, from June 24th to July 4th, gathering exclusive original works - made for Leclaireur - and a retrospective of his most famous images.

Jean-Daniel Lorieux has left a lasting impression on the landscape of fashion photography. As a scout for icons, he invites the opulent heat of a blazing sun onto glossy paper, awakening bodies and liberating minds. The compositions, graphic, touch the pictorial.

Under his eye, femininity takes shape, fascinating by its plasticity, seductive by its humor. Lavish, elegant and sensual? Under Lorieux's gaze, yes, the feminine is all that, and more: mischievous, too, smiling, casual and offbeat.

From the roof of the Intercontinental Hotel to the alcove of the Rue Hérold, Jean Daniel Lorieux presents his vision of the Leclaireur woman in five photographs.

And it is under the sun, the sun of a Paris finally spring, that we could talk with him.

LECLAIREUR x Jean-Daniel Lorieux

Jean-Daniel Lorieux discovered Leclaireur... oh, well 15 years ago. "These are places that make me dream" he admits with tender inflections in his voice. "The selections, always marginal, are as sharp as the spaces themselves!"

Love at first sight dates back to the photographer's fascination with... a pair of shoes spotted in a shop window. "The shoes presented by Leclaireur fascinated me. I regularly passed by a pair of Stefano B, an Italian-Swedish brand. I fell in love with it!" The Royal Monceau also fascinates this insolent and absolute gentleman, by its example of non-conformism and elegance, two themes he likes to associate in his work. Lorieux recounts, with a smile, the pleasure he later had in meeting Martine and Armand Hadida. "I had the joy of learning that they liked my work. When they told me they wanted to exhibit my paintings and photographs, I was delighted. I still feel honored today."

An exclusive series

Jean-Daniel Lorieux envisioned this selection of extra-ordinary clothes in collaboration with Martine Hadida: "It was a lot of fun to look together for the movement of a dress, the surprising object, to choose among all these very contemporary pieces. I was walking in Boissy d'Anglas, a piece of Dries Van Noten in my arms, when my eyes fell on this splendid double bass! I knew immediately that I wanted to combine the two. The photographer constantly cultivates the desire to connect music and image, to make the notes rise high, very high, towards a blue sky, very blue... So the photographer rises towards this sky, on the indomitable and iconic Parisian roofs. But not just any rooftop, the Intercontinental Hotel overlooking the Opera Garnier, as a matter of course.

"For me, music and fashion are two very linked universes, the cradle of my family is none other than the Abbey of Royaumont, which has become a musical cultural center since the 1930s. It is this very strong link between sacred music and himself that will inspire this image, diverted with the humor and joie de vivre that characterize him. "When I imagine a photograph, I try to produce fashion photos that are not fashion photos. So I make women escape through windows, or I make them ride their motorcycles in evening gowns in the living room where I usually have my coffee. I find it.... disjointed. I like to throw situations off balance."

A sunny look at the past

Among the images chosen for this retrospective, we find with pleasure the now mythical image of the woman in the striped hat: "I composed it for Dior, it is one of the key images of my career - I love the human body, the woman's body, the sun, the blue sky and the turquoise water. I learned a lot from my difficult years in Algeria. At the age of 25, it became clear to me that I had to see the sun and joy in everything. This is the foundation of happiness.

Decades of work and creation have allowed Jean-Daniel Lorieux to cultivate the essential: "I stage my own sunshine: beautiful, healthy, joyful women. What could be better than imagining oneself lying on the white sand, feet in the water? Today more than ever, we need to dream.

The photographs of Jean-Daniel Lorieux will be visible and available at Leclaireur Boissy d'Anglas from June 24th to July 4th.

Limited series of 8 prints, signed by the artist.

Sizes : 60 x 80, 80 x 120, 110 x 150, 120 x 80.