Special correspondence
Published on January 2 at Stock, Photo on request tell the story of a precarious student in search of meaning. In this book, the narrator is forced to prostitute himself to stay and eat. Intrigued by a photo he discovers in a boy, he conducts an investigation into the model. On Tuesday, May 6, he obtained the Goncourt Prize for the first novel.
In an interview with cultural cravings, you believe that your book is “on the edge of autobiography and fiction”. What do you mean ?
-Strictly autobiographical matter did not suit the publication. I added fiction, about 30 % of the book. For example, I mixed different customers: no character really corresponds to a man encountered by prostituting me. The end is also very different from what I have experienced in real life. It is for this reason that I insisted for the inscription of the term “novel” on the cover.
The book revolves around a photo from 1981 by Peter Hujar, who represents a man sucking his own toe. Why this choice?
The survey work on this photo was initially university research work. I only integrated it after a year, over the three years of writing of the book. The photography made it possible to structure the interactions, and to avoid that the scenes do not be linked too quickly. The writing of this book was a balance of balance. The challenge was to write a different text, to bring a singularity. Some readers say they are disgusted
