Boris Zuliani, Fashion Photographger

B. ZPhotography

Boris Zuliani

Photography

I was born in France early 1978. As a child, while spending time at home, I discovered my mother’s Time Life Photography Encyclopedia. I flipped through the pages and there I was, falling in love with photography. Because of that moment, I found my passion in photography and taught myself to be a photographer.

My career started as an assistant for Studio Des Plantes, a prestigious advertising studio in Paris, when I was just sixteen years old. A year later, I became one of the official photographers of the studio and continued there for three more years. Digital photography had yet to be invented at that time, so I used various traditional technical effects in studio lighting. As well as studio work, I experimented with post-production techniques and acquired a great deal of experience in creating stunning pictures with out Photoshop. During that time, I was lucky enough to work with Vincent le Blic, who supported and encouraged me in building my portfolio. He offered me a studio, lights, accessories, film and Polaroid products for my personal shoots every weekend. He was also the owner of a massive library with shelves of great master photography books by influential artists such as Jean-Loup Sieff, Richard Avedon, Sarah Moon, Peter Lindberg, Paolo Roversi and more, and I had unfettered access to those treasures. That was how I built my very first portfolio.

With this portfolio, I secured a position at a second advertising studio, Studio Collet, this time specializing in digital photography. Studio Collet was considered a pioneer in digital photography when it first came to market. It is amazing to think that my first digital photographs had only 6 million pixels (as much as an iPhone image today!), but it was the height of technology at the time. At Studio Collet I worked non-stop and learned as much as I could of the digital processes of shooting and retouching. I stayed with the studio for five years (two years as a full-time photographer and 3 years as a freelancer), which concluded my nine years of training and education in advertising studios.

I had always had a deep passion for fashion photography and, in order to further this ambition, decided to become a photographer’s assistant for two years. I was lucky to have the opportunity to work for two of Paris’s most renowned fashion photographers, Thierry Deffrenne and Laurence Laborie. Thierry was instrumental in teaching me the intricacies of indoor and outdoor lighting techniques and Laurence gave me invaluable training working with fashion team management and professional models. Together, we opened a small studio together to do test shots for model agencies and I took this opportunity to work on my fashion portfolio with images of models from a range of agencies. At the end of these two hardworking and fruitful years, I was ready to become a freelance fashion photographer.

After a year working as a fashion photographer for Studio Mélisse, I found myself at the airport with one hundred and twenty one kilograms of Polaroid film, en route to Vietnam. Together with the Polaroid equipment for my personal project, I also brought stroke and digital equipment for commercial work. As soon as I settled in Hanoi, I met François Carlet-Soulages, a photographer/entrepreneur who had started the photo agency NOI Pictures (www.noipictures.com) with Sébastien Löffler. He was very impressed with my work and I happily joined the agency.

I am now based in Vietnam and I continue to work all over Southeast Asia, mainly in fashion and advertising. I work with medium and large formats, both film and digital. I am also working on a documentary project using all types of Polaroid instant film, capturing images of people in numerous locations including Argentina, Cambodia, China, Europe, Philippines, Thailand, USA, and Vietnam. In 2010 I was chosen as one of a few photographers in the world to be a part of The Impossible Project  (www.the-impossible-project.com), an organization that takes as its mission to restore and revive the use of Polaroid film. 


Awards 
Cannes Fashion Photo Festival Awards (2004, 2005 and 2006) 
Polaroid Awards (2002, 2003) 
Paris Match Award (1995)

Individual Exhibitions
The Impossible Project, New York (2010)  
Le Joon, Paris (2005) 
International Polaroid Exhibition, New York & Paris (2004) 
Wait, Gallery Espace Beauregard, Paris (2003) 

Group Exhibitions 
InterContinental Westlake, Hanoi (2009) 
Comparaison Fair, Grand Palais, Paris (2006) 

References
Fashion Brands: Daniel Hechter, La Perla, Tony & Guy, L’Oréal, Lolita Lempicka, Isalyna, Ipanima, Galerie Royale, (...) 
Cosmetic & Luxury Goods: Boucheron, Omega, Dior Bijoux, (...) 
Magazines: Heritage Fashion, East & West, Grand Sud, Elle Vietnam, Her World, Dep (...)