"You are better served by yourself"
In the beginning of my climbing career, I was unknown climber and mostly really shy about my physical representation to compare than the "normal" human. At least, it was the point how I became also a professional climber. On somehow, I had the desire that the world recognize me as a human and not been seing a handicapped person. Slowly with my travels, videos for partnerships, articles, interviews, representations and lectures, I got the point that people got inspired by my words and my physical envelop which helped me a lot to stand up more on my feet and to erase my shyness.
Strangely, in the climbing community I never got a request from a filmmaker or a photographer which was really the paradox to me. Even do, I got a popular person in the magazines, how comes no person came to ask me to show up my climbing?
At least, during the 2002, I bought my first video camera to make my own climbing films. "You are better served by yourself" !
During 3 years, I was crazy with the editing movie : filming, upload footage, thinking about the style, design and the final rendering.
But one day, I realized that I was totally wrong with the frame which is the most important to express your message or the synopsis of the film. What was the best to correct that? Going to the photography mode ! For sure, it was a better game or let say the best toy ever.
"I consider myself as an ART"
Like a children, I thought that it would be fast to learn the photography but the reality came even faster. Every day, I want down to the city to hide myself and to photograph every single places, monuments, statues and people. It was really a funny game because I knew I was on the limit of the private space of people. Normally to ask it is the best way to do but also it is a weird situation cause after people changes their attitudes. At the end, it is not the same picture you done.
Also, the principal fact is to learn what is the camera, what is a picture, how it is made, etc. Because I was too lazy, I did not learn by the photography class but mostly with the internet.
In 2009, I did an Europe Tour trip. During one year, I visited the Europe to climb and to do some lectures in the french embassies. The most focus of this trip was to understand how the handicap subject is talked in the society. For that, I wanted to make a film about my adventure with all these different experiences in the handicapped foundation, handicapped schools, in the embassies, and for sure all people I met during mm climbing sessions. It was AWESOME experience ever !
Every single day I filmed my routine and I learned to make nice pictures because I knew it will be used for climbing magazines and the press of my sponsor. I paid attention on every details until the end of this year.
One day, I was in Slovenia to climb with a famous slovenian athlete. She invited me to one diner and I meet Jure Breceljnik, a filmmaker. During the diner, he requested me to make a documentary with myself. So after my trip, I went back to him and we made the first teaser of what it will be : WILD ONE.
During the 2010 year where we recorded the documentary, I also learned a lot about the photography cause Jure told me that I got some talent and I should go further in it.
During this hard year, I was playing the " Space Cow-Boy" with women. You have to read my book to get it but let say that I was in the teenager mode with my sexual identity. it is true that my compagnie, Jure, treated me like I should be proud about my body. Also I had some friendship relation with women and one day Jure showed me some art nude pictures that he made during his cinema studies. At this point he told me that it is the best gift you can give to a woman. That makes me interested! Yup, on this time it was a huge step to understand that my mother was not a bad person cause of my abandon. I also wanted to be in the peace with women like not to treat them as an "object". I am not saying that I was a bastard but sure I was confused to get the trust to a woman cause of my biological mother did not want me for any reason. The helping was my girlfriend who told me that in the fact, people watching you cause you are super cool and cute. Why not to accept it ? Waow! In plus, one day during my Evolution Tour, I got the idea that : if everything is not perfect like in the nature, flowers, three, the music, the art..all topics...why we do not like so much the handicapped person? Then I considered myself as an ART !!!