Kevin and I were recently in Geneva on a shoot for one of our clients who put us in touch with Sébastien Dubouchet to help with assisting. I didn’t know anything about him when he showed up on a foggy Geneva morning and we got to work right away. As the day progressed, we all chatted in between shots and we discovered Sébastien was an amazing still-life photographer with his own studio and a camera to make my heart flutter. After we wrapped the shoot, we went back to his place downtown to see how the Swiss do it. Scissor lifts, a digital view camera, an app on his phone to control his studio lights… it was a photographer’s dream.
Kevin took off his watch and Sébastien did a quick test to show us his process while I asked him questions about how he became a photographer and what it means to him.
How did you get started as a photographer?
I started because I wanted to be a wildlife photographer, I loved the nature and going out to see animals, wildlife, everything. I didn’t want to go into the world of adult people, I didn’t want to grow up. I was traveling and looking for strange animals trying to catch them with my camera. After a few years I realized I couldn’t make any money like that. So I started working in a hospital for a photographer of opthomology. The only field in the hospital where they have a complete department in photography. I then started to work for Stefan Vos as an assistant on everything from Harry Winston to Chopard. I spent 4 years with him and then I decided it was time to go out on my own and start my own studio.
