Within the Enchanted Forest: an Interview with Maxime Simoncelli

For photographer Maxime Simoncelli, there is magic everywhere. Inspired by fantasy literature and art, he revisits thickets and woods to capture its supernatural beauty and mystery.

Enter Maxime's otherworldly imagery through her interview with Lomography Magazine.

© Maxime Simoncelli

Hi Maxime, welcome to Lomography Magazine! We would just like to say we're astounded with your scenes. You go by the nom de plume "Sylfvr", meaning "sulfur'. How important is that element in your work?

Well, it's of course not that I particularly like its smell or chemical use, it's more because of the relation it has with alchemy, which is something I've fallen in love over the 5-6 last years. I named a series «Suldr & Lamina» a few years ago, and while Lamina comes from a figure in basque mythology, I came up with the term "suldr" only because it sounded like it could be the name of a mythological figure, and sulfur sounded a bit like it. In my head, sulfur now has this mythological sonority but still holds its alchemical history and I draw a lot of inspiration from both of them.

I always liked how mythology tends to explain things in a poetic manner, and that's what I found in Alchemy also, primitive chemistry (if I may say so) that tries to explain science through a lens enriched with mythological figures that hold deep meaning. That's something I hold dear, because I hate when things are too direct, too literal that there's no more space for the imagination. I think at the moment I came up with the name it was a bit fortuitous also, but the way it developed in my head I definitely came to love.

© Maxime Simoncelli

Majority of your photographs are taken in the forest. What makes the woods interesting for 'fantasy' photography?

There's a darkness in the woods mankind will never understand, I think that's why I love it so much. We may have incredibly modern and productivity-oriented tools to tame it, I think we can never fully understand what's at its core. There's a corner in every forest where no man can wander, I mean not literally, but whenever I'm in a forest, I feel like there is something far more powerful than myself, than humanity in its whole. I don't think that there's one soul that can say it's not afraid of those intricate paths where thorny bushes and ivy grow limitless. I may be perfectly aware of what plants or animals live there, but the winds, the darkness at twilight, the creaking of branches, the unknown that lies ahead of us, all that is part of that feeling. There is a forest in my hometown where I basically took hundred, if not thousand of shots when I was a bit younger, which I know fully well, but everytime I go there, I know there's a part of it I've never visited before. And I'm perfectly fine with that, I like places that still hold their mysteries.

© Maxime Simoncelli

You mentioned in your website you like to paint in surrealistic, phantasmagorical scenes. For you, what's the purpose of photography?

For me, photography is a way of evading myself, of letting my imagination wander freely. I could paint or write, but those are arts I'm just not comfortable with. Whenever I take a picture, I know the result will be entirely different because of how I work, and like I said in the previous question, I really love to keep some mystery in what I do when it comes to art. I wouldn't go as far as saying that my view of photography should be everyone's, but that's how I came to like it.

© Maxime Simoncelli

If you can live in a fantasy world, what would it look like? Please describe to us the scenes!

Now, I think I could write a book about that, but I'm not really good at literature. I'm a big fan of fantasy as a whole, be it in books, movies or video games, but my own fantasy world would be somewhat like Tolkien's « Lord of the Rings », a somewhat medieval world where powerful beings still thread the earth. I love those stories of grandeur past, and always find comfort in them, more than anything the saddening story of the elves in this world. But you know, I also love the cosmos and space so that would be hard to come up with a unified world.

I think It would be filled with mountain ranges, forest of pines, a star-filled sky, mist covered plains, beds of wild flowers weighted with dew, mythological figures living a peaceful life (I'm not that much into iron, blood and gold). A world where magic runs free, forests are dark and overflowing with wild spirits tricking the wanderers.
What a lovely world that would be.

© Maxime Simoncelli

What do you usually use in your work process (in photography)?

It mostly depends on what I'm into at the moment. I mostly use a mix of digital and analog, most of my pictures use a bit of the two worlds. I usually take a few picture (be it digital or analog, mostly digital though) that I'll use as a base for what I'll do. Then I add lots of different layers, be it other pictures or textures. I like to think that I paint the base picture with them, even though that's not literally what I'm doing. It's all in all a very random process where I try, make mistakes, then try again, mostly then think it's not good enough, let it sleep a few days, and come back to it when I feel like it. I'm not a thorough person, so I don't have any direction, only a general feeling or emotion that makes me go here instead of there.  One thing that is constant though is that I always draw inspiration from music. I cannot create in a silent environment, I have to put some music on. Mostly, the feeling the music conveys will make my work go one way or another. It's a very organic process that helps me a lot creating. If there is one thing I hope never dies, it's music.

© Maxime Simoncelli

Where do you draw inspiration from? Whom are your muses? If you could work or collaborate with any photographer, who would it be?

As I said in the previous question, music is a big inspiration. Some of my favorite bands are Alcest, Agalloch, Porcupine Tree and Ulver. Whenever I listen to something, it puts me in a very specific mood, that I draw inspiration from to create. When it comes to picture arts, I have a fascination for Gustave Moreau, who I think is my favorite artist of all time. His colored work of painting mythological or biblical events are things of beauty. There is so much symbolism in each painting and a care for details that is unparalleled in the history of art to me. I visited the museum dedicated to him in Paris with my girlfriend who happens to also love him, and I think we stayed there almost three hours ? Never have I felt such peace and quiet in my soul than when we went there. I can safely say his work is my biggest inspiration.

© Maxime Simoncelli

There is of course a string of other painters that I draw inspiration from, one of them being Odilon Redon, who is mostly known for his graphite works, but his Symbolist paintings have a quality that I found in no other artist, even Moreau. I know he also draws inspiration from mythological events for those pieces, but they're painted in a way one could think they're simply from another reality, and that's what I love the most about his work. I'll only name another painter, Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano, whose pieces (most notably his artwork for the Final Fantasy video games) had a deep and lasting impact on me as a kid, when I did not even know his name. There is a melancholic and nostalgic feeling to those pieces that I love, and his technique is one of the best I've ever seen. His line work is a thing of beauty, it's just perfect.

© Maxime Simoncelli

As for my muse, I only have one and it's my girlfriend, who happens to be my only model (excluding myself). I'm not very comfortable working with strangers, even close friends. It's just how it is and I'm perfectly fine with it. It's simply the best collaboration I can ever dream of. She has a keen eye for art, and most of what I do I show it to her first. We often have the same view on a piece and she'll tell me « It's too dark » or « It's good, but I'm sure it could be better » and that's often what I think myself. Having her eye is a very important part of the process.

When it comes to collaboration, I'm not sure I'll be a perfect partner. I have a very specific way of working and I'm a very shy person, so it's hard to be natural about that.

© Maxime Simoncelli

What do you usually do during your downtime? Any on-going project, or other plans you're keen to work on?

I mostly relax and spend time in the countryside, play video games and listen to music. My work also takes a lot of my time, so lately I've not had a lot of time to do art. Right now I'm working on a cover artwork for a band, but it's a slow process and I take my time. That's a thing I really like to do and I'd love to do more, but I take it as it comes !


If you enjoyed our in-depth talk with Maxime, read our first artist feature of him. Moreover, visit his website, Facebook and Instagram for more of his works. All images are with permission from Maxime Simoncelli.

written by Ciel Hernandez on 2017-04-02 #people #multiple-exposure #analogue-photography #film-photography #art-photography #maxime-simoncelli

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