Satellite Voices

Paris

Community: Elise Toïdé

September 2

Introducing the Parisian photographer who worked for and was inspired by Yohji Yamamoto and is now collaborating with David Lynch's Le Silencio bar

• Text by Terence Teh

Elise Toïdé grew up in the south of France, moving to Paris in 2002 where she started working for the designer Yohji Yamamoto. Inspired by his universe, Elise started to take photos, shooting black and white film, atmospheres, buildings, things... very graphic and moody. After moving to Brooklyn in 2006 she got into street photography and then into portraits.

Satellite Voices: How would you explain your creative outlook with your work?
Elise Toïdé: I try to create evocative and timeless images through ordinary situations.
 
SV: Can you highlight some of your favourite recent projects?
Elise Toïdé: I am working on a project about my hometown and its surroundings, in the South of France, an isolated little village. Mix of feelings. I like to let my eyes talk and discover what they have to say. I do this project with a film camera. A project about nostalgia. I am about to work with the new Parisian club, Le Silencio, designed by David Lynch. I am excited about it.

SV: Where do you live in Paris and what inspires you about that area of town?
Elise Toïdé: I live in Montmartre, a very touristic place, busy every day, the whole year. It's beautiful, so representative of how is Paris perceived in the world, very cliche. When I moved back to Paris, it was nice to hear speaking different languages in the streets, like in New York. Now, after a year, I feel like moving to a more authentic neighborhood, as Belleville where I used to live.

SV: What are some of your favourite hidden city spots?
Elise Toïdé: Le cafe du musee de la vie romantique, rue chaptal in the 9e, a charming salon de the under the trees, at the end of an alley. I also like to go to a little square, rue burq, in the 18e with my daughter, it's quiet and has a timeless feel.

SV: What does your city mean to you?
Elise Toïdé: A great city with so much to offer. Growing up in the south of France, I have always known that I would move to Paris, everything is centralised there. I enjoy living here, I love to walk and see how the districts are connected, Paris is small, mostly when you walk. At the same time, it's a challenging city in terms of inspiration, that requires to go beyond the beautiful Paris, captured by the humanists french photographers in the 50s. It is a city full of history. I felt much more inspired in the streets of Brooklyn, where just wandering and let my mind go made more sense to me.
 
SV: Can you talk about the best creative youth cultures in your town? What artists in Paris are doing it big for you right now?
Elise Toïdé: The electronic duet Plapla Pinky is doing big for me. The two performers have a radical conception of musical gesture and sound expressiveness, using turntablism and Max/MSP. They're playing at the Batofar in Paris on September 30 and following that, a tour of Japan in October.