ANDRE PINCES
INTERVIEW BY JUSTIN TYLER CLOSE
There’s an old romantic feel to the work of André Paul Pinces, a sort of old soul wayfarer, drifting through decades, smoking hand rolled cigarettes and drinking red wine, to the soundtrack of Serge Gainsbourg or some other French cool guy. Working for disciples of Warhol and Man Ray, he maintains his Boho street cred while contributing to advertising, fashion and music spreads for the big guns, including Coca Cola, Adidas and Maple Recordings. Favoring the conceptual as much as the improvisational, every shot has an intimate quality that brings you to his side of the lens. Though shooting internationally, he is based out of Vancouver in what I’d imagine to be an unbearably chic loft filled with beautiful people and art. Le bon vivant!
JUSTIN—Who is André Pinces? How did you become you?
ANDRÉ—After studying printmaking at the University of Alberta, I worked in New York City with Warhol photographer and Man Ray disciple Christopher Makos, Interview Magazine cover artist Richard Bernstein, aRude’s and Ike Ude. I have exhibited in London, New York, Montreal, Vancouver and Los Angeles, and currently I shoot commercial fashion and portraiture, as well as produce fine art editions. Some recent work includes clients like Coca-Cola, Adidas, Stussy, Aritzia, and Lululemon. I’m based in Vancouver, Canada but can also be found at various truck stops between Venice, California and Venice, Italy.
J—Who or what inspired you to become a photographer? And who is your favorite photographer right now?
A—I was inspired by my parents’ National Geographic collection growing up. That wall of yellow was an endless source of amusement as a child. My father mostly had audiophile magazines around, but my mother’s collection of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar is what ended up in my photographic consciousness. I had been shooting since my yearbook days in junior high, and later had a little darkroom set up in my friend’s basement. His girlfriend was a model and I asked her to do some photos together as a favour. She obliged, and then was surprised when I came back with some hot stuff. She showed her agency and they were really encouraging, sending me models to shoot for their portfolios, like two or three a week. It was some of that work that ended up getting noticed in New York and I ended up heading out there to assist other photographers and hone my skills. My favorite photographers right now are Vilmos Szigmond and Laszlo Kovacs, two of the greatest cinematographers of all time. At film school, before they even held a camera or a roll of film, they studied painting and music for a year. I try to approach my work similarly, in that I use whatever technical means I have to solve a visual problem, but never get tied down to certain formulas or gear. It’s more of an exercise in communication than a technical problem to solve.
J—Why photography? Be true to the real reason why you love photography.
A—I love everything about photography and what it has done and continues to do for civilization. There’s always a truth in a photograph. Whether or not that truth is the one the photographer meant to describe in that photograph isn’t as important as what the image evokes from the viewer. If I can do this once in my career then it’s a fluke, if I can do it twice then I am a photographer.
