Sarthe. Photographer, Alain Guillem is passionate about deer “per year I take at least 3,000 photos”

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Crazy about photography and nature, and above all passionate about deer, Alain Guillem, photographerexhibits at Confluences cinema of Sandy-on-Sarthe.

Originally from Écommoy, Alain Guillem, 68, says he is very attached to the Bercé forest where he worked for around thirty years as a ranger for the National Office of Hunting and Wildlife.

The beginnings

At a very young age, I fell in love with deer. They are very mysterious animals that you only see for almost one month a year, at the time of the rut. That’s when they are a little less nocturnal.

This passion led to the desire to immortalize his encounters with them. “After a while, I wanted to photograph them. I had a model at the time with the photographer Michel Marc, very well-known in the South of Sarthe, who photographed deer all year round. I often went to the window of his shop to look at his photos and when I was old enough to buy a camera, he advised me and sold me my first camera and my first telephoto lens.”

Protecting the deer

And Alain Guillem has also made his passion his profession, by protecting these emblematic animals.

“At the time, they were very rare in the Bercé forest and it was necessary to crack down and reduce the number of poachers who were having a field day with them.” His priority was to protect the deer, but there were other animals in danger.

“At the same time, I took photos.”

A special carnival

After 30 years, he left to work for 10 years in Guyana.

There, I became very interested in the carnival, which is a very special carnival and lasts almost two months (exhibition to see in February at Confluences, editor’s note).

Although it is different from that of Brazil, Alain Guillem explains that there are still quite a few Brazilians who come to participate.

Four hours of waiting for a photo

Once retired, he settled in Saint-Brieuc, but continues to return every year to the Bercé forest for a month at the time of the rut.

“I spend from 6am in the morning to 10-11pm in the evening, listening, watching, it’s a lot of waiting.” He explains that in general to take a photo like those exhibited, it takes about 4 hours of waiting.

“Blend into the landscape”

“The goal is to really blend into the landscape and wait for them to arrive.” And you have to be patient. “I often wait until 8:00 p.m. – 8:15 p.m. to see the tip of a deer’s nose, when I see one, because it’s not a given at all. You have to have a certain knowledge, know the routes and anticipate places where you’re going to catch them.”

Thus, one of the deer on display, with a magnificent antler, was only present near him for about ten minutes before disappearing. “Deer don’t see very well, but they spot masses and if something seems suspicious, they go away.”

There are always animals to photograph

In spring, Alain Guillem likes to photograph migratory birds. “I took pictures of the geese flying in the sky.” This year, he also took an interest in the kingfisher.

“It’s really a very beautiful bird, but not easy to photograph.” For this enthusiast, there is always something to photograph. “I spend as much time as possible in nature. There are always animals to photograph, birds, mammals, even blades of grass sometimes!”

But he retains a predilection for deer “because they are mysterious, we don’t really know where they disappear to and to slip through the hunters’ nets and reach a certain age (like the one on display), you really have to be smart.”

160,000 photos listed

“I take at least 3,000 photos a year, which then have to be sorted. There’s a lot of waste, but I have a hard time getting rid of it.”

In winter, Alain Guillem sorts through his harvest of photos and reworks them on the computer to better highlight the subject. “We have the potential in photography, but we have to develop it.”

He explains that it takes him on average between 2 and 3 hours on the computer to get a correct result. He no longer does film at all, but he developed black and white for a very long time. “Retouching on the computer is almost as exciting as shooting and it’s similar to what I did when I developed my photos.”

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