Biography
Born in France and raised in the US, Stéphane is an American Photographer. His discovery of photography started in his teenage years when he moved to California. His inability to speak English at first fueled his desire to observe people in the street in order to study and understand them better. Gestures, behaviors, movements, shapes & sounds became all new. He spent his formative years roaming the streets of San Francisco and beyond to find unusual and unfamiliar subjects. In the mid 90’s he relocated to Southern California to formally study photography at the prestigious Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara.
After Graduation he moved to New York City in the late 90's to pursue a commercial career and was quickly commissioned by the most celebrated fashion and celebrity photographers of NYC to create lighting solutions all the while continuing his personal photographic projects.
Stéphane's personal exploration of photography is fueled by a self guided curiosity of the world and a fascination for light, time, movement, energy and most of all humanity. His work spans several decades and explores visual categories and subjects ranging from street life, cityscapes, landscapes and lately minimal and conceptual photography.
As one of his all time favorite author, Stéphane like to share this quote as it measures sensitivity, perception and subjectivity from within.
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see “
Henry David Thoreau
Forewords
Stéphane Malassine's street chronicle’s works are made of contrasts, dualities, energy, differences and similarities. Although the everyday life commonalities are mundane and usual, his candid approach reminds you that nothing is so random and ordinary.In his Abstract works, he often instills and challenges the viewer's perspectives, guiding them away from normalcy. Under his vision common gestures become symbolic and striking in reverence. Simple photography of the everyday mundane becomes mysteriously poetic, whimsical, marvelous, mischievous and creates emotions that strike the core. Stéphane never photographs "the end" of a scene but rather suggests a response, a beginning and invites the viewer in to imagine.