Jun 04, 2015

unconventional photography with laurent rosset

Italian photographer Laurent Rosset has begun to take Instagram by storm. Experimenting with photo manipulation and multiple exposure, he breaks the normal conventions of photography, creating surreal fantasies and dreamy shots. His photographs challenge scale and gravity, as he plays with reflections and depth.

Laurent switches between vast rural landscapes, open lakes and mountains, as well as the dense urban environment, toying with roads, skyscrapers and transportation. Taking his mahabis on an everyday adventure, Laurent turns the ordinary into the extraordinary. Check out his portfolio of work, and his mahabis of choice here.

When did you first get involved in photography?
Photography has always been one of my passions. Since I was young I was attracted by the fact that photography can transform every moment into something eternal. It's difficult to say precisely when I started to get involved in photography. I think it was when I got my first digital camera so when I was 16 years old.

portrait: laurent rosset

What led you to go down this non-traditional route and experiment with photo-manipulation?
Photography for me is the best way to make people look around them. Break routines, make the ordinary the extraordinary just by looking at how marvellous everyday things that surround us are. But I think there is something more than this. A picture can be the beginning of an adventure, a story or a dream. Photo manipulation for me is: what we see, beyond what the picture shows.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Inspiration is everyone and everything. Social media, blogs, movies, books, dreams everything inspires creativity to express itself. I guess that ideas are one of the most powerful viruses for people. Once you know something or you see something you will have that idea in your mind.

Do you ever get stuck for ideas? And if so, how do you renew your creativity?
Yes sometimes I get stuck. Ideas need time, fun and sometimes they like that we don't think about them. They go on holidays and then they come back, it doesn't matter if we are on holiday or not.

Where is your favourite place to shoot?
Everywhere.

photo: the hot air balloon frame house

Name one city you’d never tire of returning to, and why?
I will find it soon.

You must have taken thousands of photos in your lifetime, but are there a few that particularly stand out for you?
I use to print my favorite pictures and...I have a wall full of pictures. Each one tells a different story.

How much of an overlap is there between your work and spare time?
If you work on what you really love you can say that in life you have never worked.

photo: winter dress

Where do you find it easiest to work?
When I have an idea it doesn't really matter where I am, I start to work on it.

How important is downtime to you?
I believe in hard work but not without hard fun.

Describe your ideal downtime- the ultimate way you’d choose to unwind..
Travelling in a new place.

If you had an extra hour in the day, how would you choose to spend it?
I would try to find a way to have an extra day in the week.

For more of Laurent's photography, follow him on Instagram, and check out his website here. To share this journal, just use this ready-to-go tweet.