Brittany is the chosen territory of Stéphane Chalmeau.

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A committed photographer at the service of architects and local architectural culture, he defends an inhabited and contextualized image of architecture that feeds on particular situations and ephemeral moments, opposite of an inventory of the building the day before its reception.

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Author of an exhibition of photographic portraits during his architectural studies in Nantes, Stéphane Chalmeau applied to AIA (Architectes Ingénieurs Associés) once graduated. But it is as a photographer that the agency offers him a mission to create portraits of his 200 employees at their workplaces – an unexpected event that will permanently guide his professional career on the image side. After a meeting with the photographer Philippe Ruault, who suggests to him that there is something to do in architectural photography outside work in the bedroom, Stéphane Chalmeau settles on his own with a classic camera. In his early years, he worked mainly in the West, from Brittany to the Bordeaux region. Then comes a Parisian period where he will be spotted as a photographer of the «French Touch». But Brittany, where it is at the forefront of urban change, remains its chosen territory.

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Like Julius Shulman for Southern California in the 1950s, Stéphane Chalmeau helped archive and promote an architectural culture intimately linked to a geographical area. But the parallel between this architectural photographer from Western France and his predecessor from the American West goes far beyond: like him, Stéphane Chalmeau defines himself as a photographer in the service of communication for architects, responding to commissions; he develops a geometrical work, often frontal to the building and without exaggerated perspectives – a convention of architectural photography whose knowledge and mastery he claims. According to him, it is precisely through this conventional character that architectural photography acquires its ability to represent an era, its lifestyles, but also the specificities of a territory.

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A photograph of inhabited and contextualized architecture

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A pioneer in the 2000s of architectural photography with a digital SLR camera with off-centre optics, Stéphane Chalmeau returned to the compact and digital camera five years ago. For him, it is about resisting a standardization of the image, which results from the use of the same sensors and the same image processing software by architectural photographers. But for him, the debate on the material eludes the real questions, which concern more the choices of the photographer and his very conception of architectural photography: he gives the example of Iwan Baan, A Dutch photographer who truly triggered a new image – inhabited and contextualized – of architecture, making the standard of the uninhabited building waver, photographed the day before its reception. For Stéphane Chalmeau, the right time to photograph a project is multiple: it is the end of the site, then a few months later, when the premises begin to be occupied. Architectural photography then feeds on particular situations and ephemeral moments, whether it is a stage of the construction site or the fall of night and its purple skies, which he particularly likes.

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Stéphane Chalmeau seeks to include users in his photographs – whether they are construction workers or residents – and it is not uncommon for him to include himself by photographing his reflection. According to him, it is important to distinguish architectural photography – an inhabited photograph – from an inventory: he first explores the buildings in their context, turns around them, gradually approaches them, then engages in the interior. He willingly spends twenty-four hours on site, «poses», impregnates himself with the context and, above all, he takes many photos. Otherwise, he says, the risk is great “to miss a certain view or a certain light.”

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A committed photographer

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As an architect by training, Stéphane Chalmeau is very attentive to the use of buildings and the quality of spaces, which sometimes leads him to be very critical of what he considers to be an impoverishment of housing programs at present. Very active on Twitter, he willingly claims to be an activist, committed to architects whose work deserves the attention of the press. From the beginning of photography, when the Louis Daguerre of this world were looking for ways to reduce exposure times, the human being was a favorite subject. At least as much as the environment in which it operates. It is therefore difficult to establish a clear definition, since this photographic genre can encompass several others, of what urban photography (or street photography) is if not its anthropological side: it is about showing people in their daily lives by adding his photographer’s look. He does not hesitate to give his opinion and regrets the too often descriptive and not critical enough of a certain specialized press. Faced with the emergence of architecture blogs like ArchDaily, he warns of the danger of this upheaval in the editorial landscape, combining the massive and undifferentiated accumulation of published projects and a policy of non-remuneration of photographers.

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If Stéphane Chalmeau’s typical order is “we just finished a building, see you for a photo shoot five days before delivery”, his ideal order would be the one he received for a book on Rennes architect Georges Maillols: photographing a complete course, 32 projects from the 1950s to the 1980s, offering the necessary time to exercise the freedom of one’s gaze.

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Liste de publications ‍

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arc en rêve habiter demain? catalogue et cartes postales architectutrama édite par àVivre

archibooks B/G l'architecture comme équation archibooks Concordance des temps Agence Brenac & Gonzalez archibooks 5/5 projets d'architecture et d'urbanisme Agence ANMA art+musée et monuments historial de Vendée (couv)

A+t ediciones Hybris I

City Rama

FGP(u)

Editions Le Moniteur 25 halles de marché Editions Le Moniteur La Maison individuelle Editions Le Moniteur 25 maisons en ville Panama Musées Furtif / Plan 01

French Touch annuel optimiste d'architecture 2007. annuel optimiste d'architecture 2008 38 Maisons BOIS Edité par l'organisme Atlambois

Palmares Salon Maison Bois Retrospective 2000-2005 édité par Atlambois

Le livre de l'école d'architecture de Nantes Edité par infolio

La ville sur la ville DLW architectes Edité par l'Europan

Emergence 4 Edité par Pyramyd

Monografik Les nouveaux albums des jeunes architectes et des paysagistes 2007-08

Modular Catalogue Octobre 2008

Réagencer son appartement Caroline Merlino Editions Eyrolles

Renson Cataloque Annuel

A10 numéro # 6, numéro # 9, numéro # 20 (Netherlanhasues, presse

L'ARCA International numéro 67 , numéro 75, numéro 88

Architecture intérieure Créé numéro 322, n°325, n°328, n°329, n°330, n° 341

Architectures avivre numéro 10, n°13, n°20, n°22, n°24, n°25, n°28, n°31, n°34, n°39,

n°41, n°42 (couv), hors série maison: tendances 2008, n°43, n°44 n°45 (couv), n°47, n°48 (couv), Hors série maison: tendances 2009

archistorm numéro 23, n° #34, n°#35

ARTRAVEL numéro 4, numéro 23

AMC

Aménagement tertiaire 2003, Aménagement tertiaire 2004, Spécial Aménagement 2005, n°121, n°128, n°130, n°133, n°144, n°145, n°148, n°149, n°153, n° 157, n°159, n°161, Intérieurs 2007, n°166 Annuel, Hors série Acier, n°170, Spécial aménagement intérieur n°175 une année d'acrhitecture, n°183, n°184 2008 une année d'architecture en France n°185

Achitecture ACIER Construction numéro 02, n° 7

L'architecture de votre région Pays de Loire numéro 138, n°165, n°191

Acier pour Construire numéro 70, n°72, n°74, n°76, n°79, n°80

I'rchitectura naturale numérod041 Italie

Architectura numéro 69 Nov 2008 (pologne)

Architecture d'aujourd'hui numéro 277, n°349, n°355, n°369, n°371

Architecture + Detail numéro 27 (Germany), 29

Architecture Bois

Architecture, Bois & Développement en Durable en Pays de la Loire

Architecture Bois & Dépendances

Hors Série Novenbre 2008

Architectura y Diseño

Numéro 96 (Espagne), numéro 100

Archiscopie

numéro 51, n°59 (couv), n°64, n ° 65 (GOuv), 84

303

numéro 69, n°71, n°77, n°89, n°90, n°91, n°92, n°101

CAUE 44 Prix départemental d'architecture 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008

Ca m'Intéresse numéro 327

Les Cahiers Techniques du Bâtiment numéro 254

Les Cahiers de la Ligue Urbaine et Rurale numéro 180 Chalets & Maisons Bois numéro 36, numéro 37 Costruire numéro 270 (Italle)

Construction moderne

numéro 120, 127

Côte Maison

numéro 537

Cuadernos

Juillet 2007 (Espagne)

d'architectures numéro 113, n°115, n°123, n°128, n°132, n°134 (couv), les najas 2003/2004, n°155 (couv), n°158, n°161, n°162, n°165, n°168, n°172, n°173, n°174, °177, n°180

Diseño Interior numéro 147 (espagne)

dwell

volume 9 April 2009 (usa)

Editions Frame Night Fever, interior desian for bars and clubs Ecologik numéro 1, numéro 2, numéro 5

Europ'A numéro 2. numéro 7. numéro 9 L'express numéro 2. numéro 7. numéro 9 Les Echos numéro 19605

L'Empreinte

numéro 58. n°65

étapes:

numéro 149

Le Figaro numéro 18965

Le Festin numéro #69

Glamour numéro 26

Geodis mag numéro 10

Le guide pratique de la maison en bois numéro 4 Habitat et Société numéro 52 décembre 2008 LD. June 2006 (USA)

idCuivre numéro 2

O donna numéro 48 (Italie)

Le Moniteur numéro 5084, 5169, 5170, 5176, 5182, 5192, 5203, 5208, 5237, 5240, 5247, 5259, 5269, 5271, 5272, 5277, 5310, 5320, 5321, 5324, 5326, 5327, 5329, 5333, 5335, 5336, 5338, 5345, 5351, 5354 ( couv), 5361, 5369, 5370, 5372, 5389, 5390, 5392, 5394, 5418,

5430. 5439. 5441. 5451. 5454. 5460. 5484. 5490. 54.92. 5496. 5507

Ouest France

Architecture d'Aujourd'hui n°277, 38 Maisons Bois, Juin 2008 magazine

La Maison en Bois

numera a

Maison à vivre Bois juillet/aout 2008, Septembre /octobre 2008

Maison & Bois intérnational numéro 74, numéro 86

Maison du Sud Ouest

numéro 24

Marie Claire Maison numéro 419

Monitor

issue #38. issue #50

Nous Vous Ille numéro 77 (Conseil Général d'Ille et Vilaine), n°82

Le Point numéro 1800, Spécial Nantes numéro 1592 p32-33, n°1892

La Pierre d'Angle Passion Architecture numéro 13 n°14

Pages Paysages numéro 9

Patrimoine et cadre de vie numéro 180

Space numéro A50 (Korea)

Séquence Bois numéro 55, n°56, hors série 2007-2008, n°70, n°71 (couv)

Sciencec & Via hoors série la maison individuelle

Technique & architecture numéro 484, n°486, n°488, n°491

Wallpaper* numéro 73

Wood Surfer numéro 34. nméro 48 (couv)

Zinetta numéro 17

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