When I learned about the existence of the Union of Cinematographers, I felt that here was the possibility of a shared space, where there were potentially people like me, who like me “see the world through a lens,” as a friend beautifully described my profession.
Like many of us, I attend annual trade shows, watch numerous test screenings of new cameras and new lenses, I visit online forums dedicated to our field, but without truly experiencing the excitement of my first evening with Union members, during which the everyday concerns I live with were simply discussed, and where the conversations seemed full of possibilities.
I learned my craft at the twilight of film, at the dawn of digital, during that long transition that has led us to a time when the means of shooting and post-production have become widely democratized. Even though I don’t think all tools are equal, I deeply believe that any tool can prove relevant for telling stories in images and sound, because it seems essential to me to understand the evolution of the production chain (in the broadest sense) in which we operate, as well as its various players, and because more than ever, paradoxically, one must be selective while remaining open to the world.
With time and always a great deal of curiosity, beyond learning any camera, any lighting source (or even grip equipment), I also learned editing with various software, color grading, screenwriting, directing, and sometimes the production of essentially documentary films (and their promotion). And finally, sharing my knowledge.
Coming from my initial literary training, I readily consider myself a storytelling technician, whatever form it may take. This is what drove me to work in documentary as well as fiction (short films so far), but also on corporate films, artist films, museum films, web documentaries, multi-camera recordings…
I persist in thinking that these very diverse experiences intimately nourish my work as a cinematographer, the richness of the technico-artistic dialogue with my various collaborators, and ultimately the creativity that I strive to bring to my images.
The UCO represents for me an eclectic and uninhibited approach to our craft as it is practiced today, an approach that I champion and that reflects the daily reality of many of us.
The Union’s evenings, the website and the events with our partners are all spaces for exchange, sharing knowledge and information, of which we are both the actors and the primary stakeholders: let us write, animate, organize!
The association is young, but we are experienced. It will be up to us to make the Union this community we envision — of professionals who are both precise and rigorous, yet always open-minded.
