Interview with photographer Jean-Marc Caracci | MONOVISIONS

MonoVisions Black & White Photo Contest 2025

– How and when did you become interested in photography?

I was around 15, my big brother made me watch into the viewfinder of his camera (a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye)… and it was just magic. Then he lend it to me, and I photographed my great family (mom & dad + 3 brothers and 2 sisters). Since this time, shooting people is what I like the most.

– Is there any artist/photographer who inspired your art?

My style is clearly inspired by photographers like Henri Cartier Bresson, Elliott Erwitt, Raymond Depardon… but also by the American painter Edward Hopper.

– Why do you work in black and white rather than colour?

First of all, the B&W fits very well for street photography. Indeed, cities and streets are very polluted by colors… so thanks to the B&W, I can point my photo on the subject, without any visual pollution around. And also, B&W is fantastic for expressing the poetry of the things (cities, items, people and so on).

– How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph/series of photographs?

Regarding my street photographs, I am first looking for the right place and light… then I can stay for a long time (sometime more than one hour) at this place, shooting invividuals passing, or just waiting for one passing. And of course, if I am not satisfied by the result, I am able to come back and come back again at this same place, until I manage to make the best photo.

– Where is your photography going? What projects would you like to accomplish?

After photographing 38 European capitals, in the frame of my big series « Homo Urbanus Europeanus », I plan to photograph 4 more capitals this summer (Minsk, Tbilisi, Yerevan and Baku)… the I will publish a book. This one will be a huge job, as I want to associate 42 European writers novelists (contributors) to my album, as much writers as countries visited for making my series « HUE ». I work on this album project since a few years already, but I plan to finish the job next year… and publish the book.

Website: jean.marc.caracci.free.fr