My name is Julien Coquel, I am 27 and passionate photographer from Namur, Belgium. As a child I regularly went abroad with my family and already back then I was curious about nature. I have always loved hiking, traveling and discovering unknown places. I feel like adventure is part of me and I find meaning in going outdoors, exploring and going off the beaten tracks. As Jon Krakauer said in his book Into the Wild: “The human soul draws its substance from new experiences”, and I can’t agree more. When I was 18, I left to Canada for several months and this changed a lot within me. During this journey, I realized how big our Planet is and the need to discover its wild nature became stronger.
Quite soon I bought my first camera and with every trip a true passion for photography was strengthened. It happened so naturally, and I understood that it was something special, it felt special. All the time I had the strong need to go on adventure, to find myself alone in nature and to capture the world that surrounds me. So it was travel that gave me the desire to photograph and still now, day after day, photography occupies a considerable part of my life. I dedicate a lot of my free time to planning my trips, locating the spots to go to and that I want to document. And each trip makes me change my look at the world, each day my creativity is stimulated by what I see and my inspiration can come from basically everything. Particularly vast spaces, wild nature and music inspire me.
Recently I went hiking in the Dolomites and I totally fell in love. I was fascinated by the immensity of the landscapes, from snowy peaks to mysterious lakes… It had something atypical. I was completely taken by the moment; I forgot about the time, I felt truly connected to the nature and I was only with that what I was doing… Photographing the magic ambiance. That’s exactly what I am looking for when taking photos, getting into a flow that makes you forget about everything but the moment you are at, the nature and the camera.
With my post production I try to highlight certain elements of my compositions by playing with saturation, contrast and light. I enjoy all the creative processes coming with photography, it’s very inventive and resourceful! I often aim to give my photos a mysterious and dramatic touch, but I also work on tragic and melancholic atmospheres. I don’t necessarily try to transcribe the exact reality, but rather my personal vision of what I see.
It’s because of the environments and the ambiances and the way these affect me, that I develop my style. The way of framing, interpreting and editing a scene is very personal and a unique means of expression. I have learned to reveal the beauty behind everything, even of what seems to be insignificant. When I look at photos of inspiring places, I feel the desire to go there. And when I can, I will. I want that the people who watch my photos feel these emotions too, that they dare to dream and dare to take the risk of going on an adventure.
I have many projects in mind and little by little I will realize these, developing visual content either through photography or film, as I would love to delve into creating videos as well. Although this may be a project on the longer term, at some point I want to create videos, adding movement to the landscapes, emotions and visions I capture and try to convey these in a dynamic way. Photography pushes me to explore new places and to express my emotions visually. It’s a lifestyle that I have adopted and that I wouldn’t want to let go of anymore. I feel inspired and I can’t wait to see what the future has for me.
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