My parents are from the paradise island of Mauritius; I grew up in the heart of Wallis ‘beautiful mountains and then I moved to Zürich, a dynamic city that, like me, keeps reinventing itself.
Like almost every family, my parents had a camera. I grew up seeing my father taking pictures of all of us. We treasure the albums from our family reunions and holidays he made. Somehow, I don’t remember exactly when I received my first camera, but definitely sometime around 1992, because that is when I took an optional photography class. The teacher who introduced me to the black & white world gave me her passion. Shooting and development instantly fascinated me. I spent hours after class in this little dark room. I learned to take pictures, to compose and to understand the function of a camera. I even exhibited at school where my peers first noticed my work.
Full of motivation and confidence, I accepted the request of a friend to take her wedding pictures. As novice amateur at the time, I didn’t quite capture what the bride had in mind. This incident put the brakes on the discipline that could have been an early career. I gave up photography to put all my energy in cooking, my other passion and livelihood until 2018.
Actually, cooking and photography are the same thing: you start with raw elements that you must combine with different ingredients available (aperture, iso, speed) to achieve a result that highlights the original product.
During all those years when I was growing up in the gastronomy world, I compulsively took pictures, seeming to just want to capture memories of the good times with friends and family, just like my father. In the meantime, I decided to open my own restaurant in 2013, when I had the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people. In fact, a customer who was working in a museum inspired me to reconnect with my old passion.
So, in 2016 I enrolled in a semi-pro photography class next to my restaurant. I plunged back into this art, but this time much deeper.
And now, what’s next?
I sold the restaurant but still working in the food and beverage business. Yes, I’m older than 40, yes, I’m a career changer and yes, I still have a lot to achieve in the photography. But as they say, “If you wait until you're ready, you'll be waiting for the rest of your life”. I now take pictures with much more care than before. Nothing will stop me this time. My aim is to convey the emotion that I had when taking the pictures. It’s actually my best way to communicate.
If you are still reading, thanks! Please take a look at my adventure through this portfolio.
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Didier
Autoportrait
