While documenting his surroundings and time spent with friends, Sydney-based photographer Michael French, aka Frenchy, paid an homage to a significant, formative decade of our lives—the turbulent twenties.
During our twenties, disenchantment is often merged with starry-eyed idealism; everything is replete with contrasts. Most of all, it’s the period that’s associated with a deep-rooted need for adventure and a carefree attitude towards life. “There’s no doubt that youthfulness is enchanting,” says Australian photographer Michael French. “There may not be another time in a person’s life where innocence and blind confidence meet with an honest excitement for discovering one’s potential. It’s about recognizing patterns, pushing your luck, realizing relationships and accepting failure. All of these elements are present across a lifetime, but it’s the frenetic pace and nature of these experiences during our twenties that make this decade so inspiring and important.”
When asked which elements keep his creative engines running and his curiosity astute, Michael says: “Unfamiliarity because the first time something happens is always exciting. Romance because it’s ever-elusive and hard to hold onto in so many ways. Scenes that cause self-reflection. A feeling of insignificance because it’s nice to drop all the egoistic weight that can build up.”
“A handful of good friends and I rode motorbikes from Delhi to the border of China across the Himalayas on the highest roads in the world. Everyday the landscapes we encountered changed a number of times. We had green and red rocks, then gold and silver, then cliffs with waterfalls, then wide dry plains, then sand hills. The moment you enter the Himalayas you feel so insignificant and a kind of personal pressure lifts off. It’s a special place.”
“A feeling of insignificance because it’s nice to drop all the egoistic weight that can build up.”
But youth is only one of the topics that Michael has approached with his photographic work. For his next project, he’s planning to start a series of stories from scratch using William Henry Fox Talbot’s salt print process from 1834. The image’s story will be closely entwined with its physical nature and geographical provenance. “Each picture will be made using the salt I have collected (off the ground or from boiled salt water) from the location where it was taken. I like that the process will go from analog to digital a number of times before an image is finished. One moment you could be in 1834 and the next you’re immersed in the latest version of Photoshop, and back again.” When asked which elements keep his creative engines running and his curiosity astute, Michael says: “Unfamiliarity because the first time something happens is always exciting. Romance because it’s ever-elusive and hard to hold onto in so many ways. Scenes that cause self-reflection. A feeling of insignificance because it’s nice to drop all the egoistic weight that can build up.”
Thank you Frenchy, for sharing your photos and stories with us. We hope to see more of your adventures soon! If you’d like to see more of Michael’s work, check out his website here.
Text:Effie Efthymiadi
Photography:Michael French
