YASMINA BENABDERRAHMANE MEETS
CAMILLE FOURNET
Yasmina Benabderrahmane was born in France in 1983. She lives and works in Paris. She is known for her experimental approach to traditional photography and filmmaking. Her instinctive artistic practice stands somewhere between documentary filmmaking and a video diary. Using this process, she documents and explores the visible, tangible world, as well as the people around her.
ÉQUINOXES
« My primary inspiration is leather, a living material whose folds connect with the materiality of my images. The gestures used in working it, a blend of tradition and modernity, guided my work. »
I consider Camille Fournet a real entity, a living person. In my artistic practice, I like to photograph and film loved ones and people around me. Here, I explore and collect a day in the life at the manufacture and the people who work there, while coming as close as possible to the soundscape to reveal something invisible. The manufacture is a living organism that brings together artisans with unique skills. I immediately wanted to immerse myself in this sanctuary of leatherworking expertise and meet all these creatives by getting as close as possible to the gestures of their craft.
What sources of inspiration guided your work?
My main inspiration is leather, a living material whose folds connect with the materiality of my images. The sounds of the place, the machines and gestures were also a real inspiration for me. Observing the gestures used in leatherworking, a blend of tradition and modernity, guided my work: it was a golden opportunity. Especially getting to meet the artisans, the people who are the beating heart and the life of the manufacture.
The installation is in-situ, at the boutique, and the “skin-images” are as one with the furnishings. They are also revealed by fragmented light boxes. There’s a sampling of colored materials. It’s somewhere between leathery skin and filmy flesh. The eye travels across the grain, the dermis of the actual material of the image, and in that way the subject is represented. Camille Fournet, La Manufacture is also a film made up of collections of words, exchanges, gestures, and the singular tools artisans create to express exceptional savoir-faire, both in the watchmaking industry and in leather goods. The idea is to wander around the shop while wearing a wireless headset, which reveals the rhythm and soundscape of the place where these pieces are made and magnifies them. It’s as close as you can get to the artisans, their actual gestures, the skins and the machines they use.
Camille Fournet, La Manufacture, Yasmina Benabderrahmane, 2025
Photo credit: Kinuko Asano
Camille Fournet, La Manufacture
Yasmina Benabderrahmane in her workshop
Photo credit: Kinuko Asano
Camille Fournet, La Manufacture
Yasmina Benabderrahmane in her workshop
Photo credit: Kinuko Asano
Camille Fournet, La Manufacture
Yasmina Benabderrahmane in her workshop
Photo credit: Kinuko Asano
Camille Fournet, La Manufacture
Yasmina Benabderrahmane in her workshop
Photo credit: Kinuko Asano
Yasmina Benabderrahmane
CAMILLE FOURNET ENJOYS PLAYING WITH MATERIALS AND COLORS. WE LOVE CREATORS, THEIR INVENTIVENESS, THEIR ABILITY AND THE WONDER THEY'RE CAUSING