I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Friday October 14th — —

The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Friday October 14th — —

“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Friday October 14th — —

Strange Things Happen For A Reason

When in New York City tonight, make sure to drop by Printed Matter at 18:00 as the very talented Paris-born and New York-based photographer Clément Pascal will present his self-published book ‘Strange Things Happen for a Reason’ (made in collaboration with artist Edouard Nardon) to the world. Pascal is known for his exquisite intuition to catch the most interesting intimate moments between a photographer and his subject, resulting in a documentary-style photography, which he has been producing in a diverse field of assignments and series, ranging from portraits, fashion-photography and free work — of which the new book is a beautiful example. With a clear signature running through all of his work, the images the photographer creates in natural light are always delicate and intimate, whether it’s a (gangster) rapper or, for instance, an artist on the other side of the lens: he seems to always succeed in creating the perfect playing field for his vision to blossom with all of them. Key in this, as stated by himself; is the fact that preparation and staging the imagery could lead to the absence or loss of ‘the opportune moment’ that defines his work. Anticipation leads his intuitive eye and lends suspense or a lack thereof for his images to arrive in the moment.

‘Strange Things Happen for a Reason’ defines that constant experimentation with photography. Much of the images included in this book point a finger to the context of the happenstance, a common arc in his work. The book serves as a modern-day instruction to forever entertain the appreciation of the unknown. The first quote in the book says it all:

Lose yourself once in a lifetime for God’s sake. Stop seeing your friends, you need a break. You need something new. Take a risk for God’s sake.

Clément to Urban Outfitters about his work:

I think one of the main things I try to communicate through my images is intimacy. I want people to feel like they’re close to the subject. That they’re seeing a real part of these people’s lives, and not something set up.

Despite (or maybe because of) the fact that Clément Pascal‘s father was a still-life photographer, who amongst others worked for Elle Décor, his own interest in photography only came to life after he put his first dream of becoming an actor to bed, while staying in Senegal working unsuccessfully as a copywriter forcing him to find another job (and finding the love of his life, with whom he now lives in New York City). Since then, he has portrayed an eclectic field of people from the cultural realm from Pusha T and Mykki Blanco to Grace Coddington, Landon Metz and Daniel Arsham. Delightfully finding intimate frames graced by the beauty of natural light, the photographer has worked for and with names like Maison Kitsuné, MUSE, Dazed & Confused, L’Officiel Paris, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times Magazine. He has recently exhibited at Ed. Varie and Magic Gallery, both in New York City, and Ron Herman Sendagaya in Tokyo.

For all info on today’s book signing see here

For all work by Clément Pascal see here