Liberté d'Expression

• Photographer
  Christophe Kiciak, France, Metropolitan
• Studio
  Christophe Kiciak
• Website
  http://www.flickr.com/gyaban_fr

Everything photographed and edited by me.

As you probably know, on 7 January 2015 occurred the deadliest act of terrorism in France
of the last 50 years. 12 persons died in the offices of "Charlie Hebdo", a satirical
newspaper, because they believed in an absolute form of freedom of expression. I must
confess this tragedy hurt me deeply. A few days later, a gigantic march occurred in Paris
as an historical act of protestation against terror, against censorship. At least
everything is not lost, millions of people still believe in those values: it was somewhat
heart-warming.

The day after that march, I decided to pay an homage to this reaction, by recreating
another version of the famous painting "La liberté guidant le peuple" by Eugène Delacroix.
In this version, I replaced all the weapons by pens, pencils, cameras or books, as a
metaphor for the defense of freedom of expression.

Of course, that painting involves various characters, and I don't have access to lots of
models. As a consequence, I brought my camera at work, and quickly organized a shooting
session. It was a bit challenging, but lots of people spontaneously accepted to pose for
the project. Thank you so much everyone!

Vive la Liberté !

I am a self-taught hobbyist, who simply enjoys creating unusual images. My work never contains anything but my own photos, combined into surreal, conceptual, or fantasy oriented pictures.
My beloved wife Marianne is helping me, especially on the artistic side of the creations (sets construction, image composition, color choices, overall feeling).

I am convinced that a great deal of what “Art” is lies in doing things differently. In visual arts, looking at things from another angle, modifying the lighting, adjusting an expression, or changing an attitude can bring life to an otherwise dull work. However, seeking difference simply for the sake of it is probably not a good way to obtain the best results. This is where “Creativity” steps in. I would personally define it as the ability to use difference as a tool to bring interest. Therefore, being creative is very important to me. Of course, I often fail at it, but I believe that pursuing that goal is the path I should follow.