This photo studio, a real cabinet of curiosities in Val-d’Oise

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He left the Basque Country to settle in the city center of Pontoise (Val-d’Oise).

Lowell Lapouge63 years old, shares his activity as a photographer with that of a collector, since 2017.

It was a bookselling neighbor in Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) who led him to start recovering family photo albums, which he now offers for sale, in addition to the services in his studio which has just been opened. open rue de l’Hôtel-de-Ville.

“I was looking for a place to develop my business”

During a stroll in the old Pontoise, the native of Versailles decided on his professional project in this city.

He had applied for the Boutique on a trial basis, without being selected.

“The town hall was interested in my project and gave me this space,” continues Lowell.

Photo heritage

In his shop, old images decorate the studio. He bought an enlarger.

It restores images on glass plates, with the help of a scanner and artificial intelligence software.

He also returned to film photography from which he produced digital prints.

We will have understood, Lowell goes further than the local photographer.

“I take identity and school photos, and family photos, shoots for ready-to-wear boutiques…”, he explains his business activity.

While working, he collected old photos. It has some rarities that deserve the attention of its customers.

He unearthed around fifty photos by Pierre Duverger, a post-war supporting actor, who devoted a period of his life to photography.

“These photos were sleeping in a car box in Deuil-la-Barre,” he reports of this curiosity, which he plans to exhibit.

Another album preserves photos of a resident of Ableiges, who immortalized a boat trip to New York in 1925.

“I happened to resell family albums,” he confides.

He even found photos of the Moulin de Sannois at the Bayonne flea market. His shop is a treasure trove of photographic memory.

“People come to see me to offer me albums, others come to see if there are photos that interest them for their interior design.”

His photographic collection is available online.

“Orders are going out across the world,” he explains. Photos of sports, war, horse racing…

The studio is decorated with old cameras, “just for decoration,” he explains.

During the first Antiques Fair, on September 22, on the quays of the Oise, he recreated a retro studio. His passion is complete.

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