Synopsis
With Les Zidiomatiks, Sylvain Granjon explores the passage from language to image, taking French idioms as his starting point. “To drag one’s feet,” “to bad-mouth someone behind their back,” or “to grab a bite on the go” thus become the foundations of photographic compositions in which literal meaning unsettles figurative usage.
The film follows the artist at work, from preparing the shoot through analogue printing, cutting, staging, and hand-colouring. This process extends his experience of burlesque performance. The artist’s body becomes a sculptural material, while the photographic studio takes on the form of a miniature stage.
In Granjon’s work, humour emerges from the gap between a familiar expression and its visual translation. By giving these expressions a concrete existence, the artist reveals their strangeness, their occasional violence, and also their inventive power.
What you will find in this film
The literal translation of French idioms into photographic images • A handcrafted process involving shooting, printing, cutting, and hand-colouring • A burlesque universe in which the body becomes a sculptural material • The movement from language to image, between humour and strangeness • An artist at work, in a studio conceived as a miniature stage.
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Further exploration
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Sylvain Granjon – Les Zidiomatiks, Les Éditions de l’Œil, 2017. (French) – The most direct companion to the film, focused on the same body of work.
Geoffrey Batchen – Each Wild Idea: Writing, Photography, History, MIT Press, 2001. (English) – Useful for thinking about photography beyond straight documentation, especially in relation to objects, vernacular forms, and constructed meaning.
Clément Chéroux – Since 1839...: Eleven Essays on Photography, MIT Press, 2024. (English) – A rich set of essays on the history and uses of photography, including vernacular and experimental dimensions.
Charlotte Cotton – The Photograph as Contemporary Art, Thames & Hudson, 2021 edition. (English) – Helpful for framing staged, conceptual, and performative photography.
Susan Bright – Art Photography Now, Thames & Hudson, 2005. (English) – A useful broader context for contemporary photographic practices grounded in construction, concept, and visual invention.
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