Daoulasian Stéfane France paints a portrait of the submariners of the Triomphant

Usually they are never in the light. We never talk about them, we never photograph them. The Daoulasien Stéfane France has reversed the dynamic, like his image head down and right in the left of the photographic camera that he carries around in all his good shots. He could have chosen the easy way out with a very compact digital device or a magic cell phone that fits in his pocket. Stéfane France undertook the opposite by boarding the submarine Le Triomphant.

To complete his black and white eye-to-eye portraits, three-minute recordings, accessible using a QR code, allow you to hear the voice of the photographed sailor.

Unique moment in front of the room

Stéfane France is not his first dive into the world of French submarines. In 2020, he published “Return to submarine base”, taking portraits of former submariners. This time, it gives pride of place to those who carry out seventy-day patrols aboard the most secret ships of the French Navy.

We imagine that carrying around the old-fashioned photographic camera with its large foot was not an easy task in the small space of an SNLE (nuclear ballistic missile submarine). “And again, I was not in an attack submarine,” he puts things into perspective. “Sometimes, in certain rooms, I had just enough distance to focus.”

But what a joy to capture looks using this photographic process from another time. “We establish a special moment in front of such a device where you have to pose without moving for a second.” No special instructions. Everyone positions themselves and looks at the objective as it is. The photographer obviously works with shapes and materials within the careful framework of his shots. The shades of gray and very dense blacks create the rhythm of the images. The crew reveals itself page after page, specialty after specialty. With only one shot at each session. “The first image is always the best.”

The whole life of the submarine

But where does this passion for the world of submarines come from? This former HEC and high-level audiovisual executive (TDF, Canal +, Orange) says he is fascinated by this life under the sea and these incredibly complex ships. “I asked the sailors to introduce themselves and tell about their jobs on board.” Through a hundred portraits, we discover the entire range of activities necessary to carry out the mission of nuclear deterrence. “Yes, we probably talk too much about nuclear deterrence in these very troubled times, but I wanted to tell the story of the daily life of these sailors in their immediate work environment.”

Trees in inverted negatives

Based in Daoulas since June 2022, this lover of black and white and the prints he makes in his home lab has not finished taking out his Leica or his imposing photographic camera to capture the beauty of the surrounding nature. “I am preparing a work on trees, always in black and white, according to the principle of inverted negative.” The opposite would have surprised us.