Joel of Blanc
21.06.2024 Kate MiddeleerNorthern rip announcing partnership with Blanc Studio.
I capture people and their stories. Who happen to be well-dressed. Story first.
What makes you tick? becomes wildly more interesting when I’ve already seen how you operate. Where did you come from? is all the more fascinating when I know how far you’ve come.
I do, however, make one glaring mistake. Kate, I beg you, do not conduct an interview with a bowl of corn chips, audio recording device inches away.
How did you first come across Blanc? *crunch* From where do you draw your inspiration? *chomp*
Arduous as it was—getting through this interview that seemed to teeter on the verge of viral Tik Tok ASMR—it was representative of the article’s subject. I could spend a few paragraphs trying to describe his generosity, but I will let facts speak for themselves: I told Joel I would like to interview him, and he invited me over for chicken soup and tea.
Joel works as a graphic designer for Tigmi Trading here in Byron. Design work allows him to hone in and capture his love of motion. Prior to this, he was a photographer for Tigmi, which led to his introduction to Jasmine, the previous owner of Blanc. Joel was in need of a studio to shoot one of Tigmi’s new couches. Blanc was just the place.
“That beautiful friendship grew so quickly,” Joel said, having known each for just under a year, they found connection in family, homeland, and photography. Every time Joel had a new piece of furniture, he would come and see Jasmine. He would arrive and they would discuss Indonesia, they would discuss their personal and familial stories around adoption, their relationship to art. Until one day last year, she told him she was expecting a child.
The topic of selling came up. ‘So many red threads, so many stories we share but don’t have in common’. And she told him she would sell Blanc Studio, but only to him.
“The most exciting thing is that it feels exciting to be here. There’s no other possible scenario. It just feels good. It just feels good,” Joel says.
Do you ever get nervous?
“Always. It’s good to be nervous. When you’re too comfortable, you stop pushing,” Joel said. “It’s good to have a lot of backing when you create something or take on new endeavors. It’s good to have someone backing you. Behind you. That’s quite essential”.
This feels the moment to mention how I met Joel. Miica and I were at the tail-end of a midday, pleasant (scorching), summer sprint (power-walk) up and down the stone steps of Broken Head. Thanks to whoever (Miica) had the bright idea of drinking a beer (two) beforehand, we quit the sprint when we did, and met Joel when we did. Placed on the sharp rocks with his 1920’s-something polaroid camera poised like a bow between him and the water, he tightened and took aim, capturing images in a way we would learn to be his signature style; black and white, a celebration of negative space. Honing in on reflections, and the dual imagery that nature gifts those who are willing to study its quieter details.
“Color is a difficult topic because I love black and white. You remove the unnecessary noise. Everything becomes more graphic. Architecture has always inspired my work”.
The partnership grew, until Joel became an integral part of our magazine’s team. Giving us insight, collaborator photographs, nice tea, and inaluable company. This feeling of ‘backing’—he was right—is essential.
“Well I have a masters in finance.”
Really? That’s probably helped you in life.
“Never. Literally never. I never worked in finance—let me just check on the rice—I never wanted to.”
Joel started a career in art direction straight out of business school, and that catapulted him into a range of jobs in the creative world, including managing a concept store-meets-art gallery in Antwerp prior to moving to Byron.
Has there been someone in your life that’s inspired you artistically?
“Hmm.” A long pause goes by.
Probably quite hard to pinpoint.
“Nope. Actually very easy. My grandfather was a photographer. My family had one of the largest photo studios in Morocco in the 20’s. When they fled and left everything behind, the only thing my grandfather could save was a Super 8. He was a street-portrait photographer.”
I ask Joel to tell me about his future aspirations for the studio.
A celebratory space. A cultural thing. “During the day it’s a photo studio. Past six a-clock, it can be anything”. A place where people launch books. Showcase portfolios, films. A chameleon of sorts. That’s the business plan: “people book it to bring the brains. I just provide the space”.
Byron has proven to Joel, as it has for so many of us, that it is a special place to launch creative pursuits.
“Everyone knows someone who has done something. Everyone sincerely wants you to thrive and grow. It’s quite special. Let me check on the soup”.
I conclude the interview with an inquiry into Joel’s love of portrait photography.
“I love capturing on moments, and off moments. I love when I can look deep inside someone’s eyes and try to capture what’s going on. It’s very intimate. I think taking portraits of people is a very intimate act. A safe place. Storytelling but sometimes you don’t need the words”.
Joel likes to ask his subjects questions. “Sometimes a question can throw someone off. But it’s also nice to capture that off moment. When they think about the answer. Those off-moments when they’re not focused on the massive camera in front of them.”
“People. I love people.”
His vision of fashion photography is this: capturing people and their stories, people who just happen to be well-dressed.
“Story first. They can wear garments with their stories. Alright, soup’s ready, let’s serve that.”
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