Grégoire Bernardi

From the series “The New Burlesque”, England 2008

Grégoire Bernardi (B. 1983, France) began as a self-taught photographer from the age of seven. He began studies  in art and photography at ETPA in Toulouse until 2003 later returning to Marseille where he worked as a reporter-photographer from 2003 to 2007 with the “Reportages” agency.  In 2012, he relocated to Marseille, France to continue his personal work. His photographs have been published in: VSD (Fr), Les Inrockuptibles (Fr), Groove (Fr), Playboy (French and Italian edition), L’Express (Fr), Let’s Motiv (Fr), Men’s Health (Fr), (Fr), Nautiques (Netherland), Ship & Shore ( Germany), 20 Minutes (Fr), Le Journal du Dimanche (Fr), Le Monde (Fr), and The Times (Uk).

About the Photograph:

“This picture was taken at the Shepherds Bush Hall, in West London. I was working with a journalist on a project about the New Burlesque in England and we asked to photograph the duo Pustra & Vileen because they looked like very different than other performers. When I start the shooting, a pianist was playing downstairs, and the ambiance became very quiet and warm. I went on the other side of the bar, it was very small so it was difficult to move. I said nothing to them, the music gave them their cue as they changed their poses very slowly and followed the lens with their eyes. The ambiance was like a old silent movie, something was happening between us, it’s hard to explain, but we didn’t need any words to speak together. During those kinds of situations, I know why I decided to be a photographer.”