PORTFOLIO/ THE THIEF OF COLORS

Strange, why steal what belongs to no one? Well, that's precisely the great art, giving value to things that don't have any. We say well: To steal a smile, that is to say to take it in flight in the impalpable cloud of all that escapes us at the moment. And I can tell you that in this magnificent city of Nice, sunny in all possible hues, when others walk around holding in their hands their tourist catalogs overloaded with vulgar quadrichromy, only a few rare experts can fall in love with the smile of the colors between them. And... Can this be learned? Yes, there are very good schools, the official ones and others a little less academic, especially when it comes to teaching how to steal. I am convinced that the mother of little Jean-Flavien Piquemal, on leaving the nest for his first flight, must have taken him to the Chagall museum. There he discovered in wonder among the angels the best way to catch colors. But it was only later, introduced to the court of miracles, in Nice you can always look for it, that he understood from his true masters the prowess of which he could one day be capable. For example, in the city, the three largest palaces in immaculate white, no one noticed, their fabulous colors were simply stolen... Ah Ah! You are kidding! Not at all! Besides, they must have been sent somewhere. They did not evaporate. Look in the photographs of Jean-Flavien, behind the huge shadows like stranded ships, sometimes some discreetly escape, it's up to you to find them. Albert Lemoine, Photographer