Born and raised in Martinique, Aurélie Chantelly is a photographer based in Paris, where she has perfected her art.
Specialising in fashion photography, she is inspired by her Caribbean heritage and hip-hop culture, which she discovered through years of dancing, particularly hip-hop and dancehall. Aurélie is a co-founder of the creative collective Neighborhood 360. She values teamwork and collaborates with people who share her values and vision.
For Aurélie, art is a spectrum and her path is one of constant experimentation.
We're delighted to welcome Aurélie Chantelly to the Atelier & Beyond photo studio, and to see her carry out her artistic and professional projects every year.
Her inspiration comes from her direct environment, strongly marked by the Caribbean matrifocal culture. This has given her a particular sensitivity and skill for photographing women, a subject very present in her work.
From these women, she creates characters and places them where they are least expected.
The practice of dance has also given her a deep understanding of the body in its environment. She has learned to grasp the physics of space through movement, geometry and body structure.
Her relationship with the landscape has developed over the course of her practice. Living on an island imposes different codes. The relationship with color and contrast, the force of history and the character of the population are all interwoven in complex ways.
In the face of European norms, the island's natural nonchalance is not only a personality trait, but also an aesthetic that it likes to cultivate. It's a trait often seen as negative, which she likes to revisit through postures, movements, colors and textures.
Questioning urban cultures, studying the stylistic aesthetics that derive from them, the relationship to music and the importance of the socio-political environment drives her to understand and dissect the lifestyles of the people on her island.
It is essential for her to understand the history of people and subjects in order to transcribe it into images.
Her photos are always subjected to intense digital processing. She seeks to “deactivate” reality and the pragmatism inherent in photographic capture.
Blur is part of her creative process; her aim is to propose a new interpretation of reality, a space to dream and let the imagination wander.
Because we look through the codes that shape our perception of the environment, she wants to emphasize the importance of not taking this perception for granted.
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