Clara Belleville’s photography mirrors her subjects. They are both unabashed, hectic and spontaneous. In a Parisian cafe, this young student from Les Gobelins photography school shows us her fanzine, gathering the 100 pictures that compose her series “Explicit”. These “Memoirs of My 20s”, as Clara calls it, feature a generation drifting across alcohol, laughter, drugs and even love. “At this age you are like a baby that puts everything in its mouth to see how it tastes”, Clara says. Inspired by Larry Clark and Nan Goldin, she sees in her subjects a unique truthfulness and purity, something lively and deeply human. Something she doesn’t want to fade away. “When I was little I could not rest my head on my parents’ chests, their heartbeats sounded like a countdown”, Clara tells us. Obsessed with treasuring ephemeral moments, Clara always carries a compact analogue camera with her. Compact so that its presence goes unnoticed, analogue so that nobody can ask her to delete the shots.
Images from “Explicite” © Clara Belleville
