Meet Delphine Queme | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Delphine Queme and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Delphine, what are you inspired by?
Art and beauty in general. From early Flemish painters to American color photographers, from Japanese craftmanship to modern architecture, ….

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
It is difficult for me to tell what sets my art apart from others.
Though i am inspired by many photographers and painters (Saul Leiter, William Eggleston, Andreas Gursky, Richard Estes …) i hope i truly express something personal.
My photography is purely aesthetical, it is colors and lines, with a bit of strangeness sometimes (e.g. a reflected ghostly silhouette for example). I don’t have a subject. I should almost not call myself a photographer, as photographers often want to report on a situation. I don’t. I am just looking for pure beauty.

After losing my mother I started to take photographs in the streets to think about something else. A few years later, i decided to become a professional photographer, shooting on commission mostly places and keeping on my personal projects at the same time.
It has been ten years so, with exhibitions in Europe and in the States (my next exhibition will be in Russia next september) and a book to come.
I think the most important thing for an artist is to make works of art. The recognition comes after and is not the artist’s problem. You just have to do things.
It seems difficult to implement it in your every day life because it is always encouraging to receive recognition. But the truth is that famous artists in their times are often forgotten and others are recognised long after their death. The thing is that there is essentially uncertainty there and we have to face and accept it.
The most important thing is to be true to yourself, not compromise, be happy from time to time within you with what you do, and keep on working.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I recently visited Los Angeles and i loved going on Mulholland drive at night with the eponym movie OST playing in the car, paying my due homage to David Lynch whose visual world has been another source of inspiration over the years.
And have a drink at Chateau Marmont, another homage, to the great photographer Helmut Newton who used to move from Paris to here during winters (colder in France than in California).

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I shall first thank my parents who exposed me at a very early age to art. My mother took me to many art fairs and exhibitions, my father showed me italian painters. I particularly remember a book about Atget photography in their library which certainly triggered something when i was a child.
I shall mainly thank my husband who not only is very positive about my art but with whom i have many discussions that help me a lot in defining what exactly is it that i am doing.
A key book that helped me through the years is Zen mind, beginner’s mind by Shunryu Suzuki. I actually recently came to the San Francisco zen center where he teached zazen during many years.

Website: https://www.delphinequeme.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delphinequeme/

Image Credits
Delphine Queme