Photography Careers

6 films
Here’s to all the men and women who, in their laboratories, unassumingly dedicate themselves to Photographers and to promoting Photography...
- Diamantino Quintas , Hand-printer
DK2R Team

Do we consider photography a collaborative job?

Alas! We speak only of “the artist”.

And photographers rarely mention those who immerse themselves in their universe in order to better transmit it.

For those who search in the shadows for the best tone of ink, the right hue for a frame, the appropriate height on the wall… we could call them the “last millimetre logistics”!

The often highly sensitive men and women who work in these “noble small trades” perhaps lack the ego needed to get themselves noticed, and to use the cinematographic metaphor dear to Bernard Plossu, there are no credits “at the end of the film” to honour them.

DK2R aims to present these professions to you in order to pay homage to them of course, but also to get across a full understanding of the essential and delicate role they play in the successful outcome of an exhibition, a print.

Let this journey also be a way of raising awareness that a badly presented beautiful collection of images is one doomed to be forgotten.

Films on the theme

METIERS-PHOTO-PROF-PHOTO-JUDIC
movie category
23’
Crime Scenes (How to become a forensic photographer)

Capturing clues: The unseen art of forensic photography.

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Know how to photograph clues

This film will introduce you to the profession of forensic photographer, a very particular approach to space and evidence with the investigation in mind.

By following Aurore at the police photographers' school, we learn to look at a crime scene and to reproduce it in images. Her instructors, Yves and Thierry, share their experience and teach her how to tell stories at each scene.

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METIERS-PHOTO-PROF-ENCADR
movie category
18’
Profession: Framer

Behind every masterpiece, a framer’s thoughtful craft.

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The secrets of framing

This film will take you to the CIRCAD HQ on the eve of Jane Evelyn Atwood's retrospective exhibition at the MEP. The founders of this illustrious studio, Patrick Bouteloup and Didier Le Tumelin, who have never needed to advertise their skills, call to mind the ways in which they intervene to present photography.

From start to finish, they support the artists as the exhibition takes shape; they share their research. From a photo, they visualize the wood for the frames, from the frames, they imagine the colour of the wall... Exhibiting is an art!

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METIERS-PHOTO-PROF-RETOUCH
movie category
11’
The Retoucher

Crafting perfection: The meticulous world of traditional photo retouching

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The art of traditional retouching

This film will reveal an art in its own right, that of traditional retouching by hand and with a brush. So often, admitting that pictures are retouched remains a sensitive, controversial issue, and can even be seen as an admission of a grotesque manipulation of reality. Marie-Pierre Bride shares the subtleties of her craft with us.

There are imperfections to be erased; some things, however, shouldn't be touched. She and photographer Frédéric Fontenoy scrutinize the image and together find how to sublimate it.

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Prfession photographe culinaire 09
movie category
15’
Profession: Food Photographer

Savour the art where cuisine meets lens and taste meets vision.

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A box of tricks...

Discovering the profession of food photographer at Studio B, Paris, going to and fro between two sets, two photographers, in a beehive atmosphere. To arouse desire, the team (photographer, food stylist and decorator, retoucher, graphics artist) have vast know-how at their disposal, as well as a box of tricks that allows them to recreate the "natural" look. The kitchen is but yards from the set; a fraction of a second separates shooting and post-production. A highly technical exercise, like a bee dance, that demands constant adaptation to product, format and client against a tight timetable.

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PROF-REGI-FOND
movie category
11’
Profession: Studio Manager

Unveiling the unseen world of photo studio management.

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Behind the stage

Like a hotel, a photographic studio works from morning to night. The studio director is there to anticipate all matters technical and material. He oversees the preparation of scenery, keeping one eye on the "toolbox", he watches, he listens. He knows the tricks of the trade. And he passes them on to future studio assistants. Alain Paret is our guide at Rouchon Paris.

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DIAMANTINO-QUINTAS-PHOTO-PRINTING-THEDARKROOMRUMOUR-2
movie category
22’
The Darkroom Masters | Diamantino Quintas

In Quintas' darkroom, every silver print tells a profound story.

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Profession: Printer

In his Montrouge laboratory, Diamantino Quintas welcomes the American photographer Tyler Gamble. Together, they seek the right density and contrast for a large format print. From the lab's darkness to daylight, they come and go between the negative and the paper. A gelatin silver print is constructed from myriad touches. It's a demanding craft that relies on many techniques. Diamantino Quintas sheds light on the images photographers bring him until he finds emotion.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

RESOURCES

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• TRAITÉ THÉORIQUE ET PRATIQUE DE LA RETOUCHE DES ÉPREUVES NÉGATIVES ET POSITIVES - author: Paul Ganichot ; 1895 for the first edition ; Charles Mendel ; French

• COLLECTING PICTURE AND PHOTO FRAMES - author: Stuart Schneider ; 1998 ; Schiffer Publishing Ltd (US)

• IMAGES OF CONVICTION, THE CONSTRUCTION OF VISUAL EVIDENCE - collective work ; 2015 ; Xavier Barral Editions

• SCENE OF THE CRIME : PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE LAPD ARCHIVE - author: Tim B. Wride ; 2004 ; Harry N. Abrams 

• WEEGEE: MURDER IS MY BUSINESS - artist: Weegee ; author: Brian Wallis ; 2013 ; Prestel