What it is, why you should care, and how to sell your (creative) gaze?
The future requires dislocated yet powerful non-bias networks that bring together loose ties. In conversation with established photographer and multi-skilled creative Prisca Munkeni Monnier [Lafurie] about what is hybrid talent and her take on a rising new world of work.
I was used to being called someone that wasn’t really focused because I had too many, how do you call them: talents? I call them Talents.
What is your take on hybrid talent?
P.M .— For the French society it was considered to be “all over the place” if they could not fit it in a box. But recently, French people are starting to recognize it because they see there is a value when you hire one person to do multiple jobs. First of all, in terms of money, it is more appealing. Because when you are a big company and you hire multiple people you have to manage them and managing all that talent at once for a project is not always easy, it’s not always productive, sometimes it’s just too slow and there are egos to manage etc.
It’s only up until recently that people are starting to see this appealing to them. I think it is because of the financial crisis as well. In Europe. Where companies cannot hire a big crew of people each month so now it is becoming interesting for them.
In order to be hybrid, you need to practice your talent in different mediums. Most artists only use one tool for their art. So in my entourage, hybrid artists are rare.
Can you give me some examples of people working like this?
P.M . — I am trying to think but it is very difficult because in order to be that you have to be your own boss. Also, in order to be hybrid, you need to practice your talent in different mediums. Most artists only use one tool for their art. So in my entourage, hybrid artists are rare…
And… usually creatives don’t think of the financial side and don’t know how to sell themselves. That is not always easy for creative people. I, for example, had a graphic design company before I came to France which helped me understand the business side of creativity. When I came here (France) I just wanted to be a creative. But at the end of the day I realized that even that is a business so I was a little bit disappointed because I wanted to lay cool…
P.M . — And that’s when I created BlackAttitude Magazine, because people see the magazine, but the idea is to sell myself as an artist, a photographer, a writer, an editorialist, because I build the whole **** brand from the logo to the content and every single page was designed by me.
You need to have your own brand, your own story to sell before agencies or galleries even take an interest on you. You need a “thing”, a “Mojo”. Everything they look at is the way you sell yourself, you present yourself, what you’re saying about yourself.
Is talent factual? Do you need a “thing”?
P.M . — Yeah… You need to have your own brand, your own story to sell before agencies or galleries even take an interest to you. You need a “thing”, a “Mojo”. Everything they look at is the way you sell yourself, you present yourself, what you’re saying about yourself… in order for them to see a product that they can sell. You have to tell your story from a to Z and that is very difficult for an artist.
P.M . — Being an artist is one thing , and thinking how to sell is another. There are different categories even in photography: there are the ones I sell in galleries, the ones I sell to an average public and the ones that I sell in a journalistic way, more editorial, for magazines and stuff.
There’s always a market, even if you are the market. Besides, it always starts with you, if you’re doing it for you, chances are other people will feel related.
If you would only produce art and not think of the market would you consider it a selfish act?
P.M . — On being selfish, I think doing art is selfish… it’s selfish, is self-centered, is ego-maniac. So yes it is selfish. But thinking of a market while creating is selfish too because at the end of the day, it all ends up in your pocket.
P.M . — There’s always a market, even if you are the market. Besides, it always starts with you, if you’re doing it for you, chances are other people will feel related. We are all connected. Now if you’re a man and you’re creating something for women, you’ll never be as good as a woman. Even when you create for yourself, you think of the small community of the people who really understand art and might understand you. But in the end, They only understand what they want to sell or what is interesting for them even in the art industry. So everybody is selfish. I’ve been approached by a lot of galleries only because of the movement “black lives matter”… I like to think that I am good at what I do, but I am not the only one, so…
How do I take a picture of them without feeling that I’m using them? That’s the reason why I do not take a lot of pictures of other people for my art anymore because I feel like I am using their bodies to serve my work and say what I want to say…
P.M . — I think the challenge comes when you have to create with other people. I’ve been commissioned by OFFTO magazine and for this project I had to go back to Congo and had to work with my artists brothers… We had a cool connection but there is always a moment when I am seen as the privileged one no matter how cool we are… they are living their situation, it’s not easy out there, I come from Europe so… At this specific moment, to them, I am not African. So how do I take a picture of them without feeling that I’m using them? That’s the reason why I do not take a lot of pictures of other people for my art anymore because I feel like I am using their bodies to serve my work and say what I want to say… that is very complicated to deal with . Now, for the magazine it is something else! You have to keep in mind that this is commercial, you make sure that they are being paid for the work done and basta! this is not about your heart or what you are feeling. That part can be very difficult for an artist to integrate because that is not being human it is being commercial. You have to get some paperwork ready, contracts, etc. So an artist may not do the job because it’s a very complicated relationship.
What is your creative statement?
P.M . — Well, there is a difference between my Artistic approach when I am BlackAttitude and when I am LaFurie. With BlackAttitude I am an Art Duo trying to answer a simple question: What does being black mean? Black is the “fil rouge” that helps us create. Black the color, the continent, the cultures, the depth of things…
Like when you are a child and you ask yourself: how do I know for sure that this is me? Is it me that I am looking at or somebody else?
P.M . — When I am LaFurie the question is more personal. I’m an angry woman and I want to know why. So I first started to call myself “LaFurie”. Prisca is the name my mother gave me, Munkeni is my father’s name and LaFurie is the one I choose for myself. It was the first acknowledgement of who I really am. Then I started going back to the past to look for answers, create, dig some more, create… And the more I dig, the more I find out more about myself and it feeds my artistic approach with BlackAttitude as well because not only am I angry, but I am black too. So this whole “démarche artistique” is about finding me. And for that I have to go back to the past. Find out how this whole thing started… you know, like when you are a child and you ask yourself: how do I know for sure that this is me? Is it me that I am looking at or somebody else?
And how can you be sure?
P.M . — How can I be sure? I am not sure. That’s why LaFurie is digging… haha!
Tell me about your creative process
P.M . — It starts with being angry. (Laughing) So I am angry about something and I don’t know how to process it, so I take my “cahier” and I start writing: I’m angry because of this or that… and this becomes a long text… Sometimes there’s memories popping out. A real flood of feelings. Then, all of a sudden I take my phone and there is a lot of information waiting for me, inspiration coming to me and related to what I just wrote. Then I start sketching scenes. And once I know what I want, I take my camera and start shooting .
Have you ever asked yourself what is your vocation?
P.M . — No, because I’ve always known that this was my path… I’ve always been an artist. My parents knew, everybody knew, there was no doubt.
If you want any project done in Congo (or anything African related), I am your woman. Also I can create that relationship between an artist and a corporation. Being the bridge, that would be me.
Do you see yourself pivoting from your artistic career towards a collaboration with a corporation? How would you sell your services to that company and bridge the problems they have with a tangible solution? Would you consider having a solution?
P.M . — I would because before I was against the corporate world but now I know how I can position myself and what makes me different from any other photographer. As an art director or creative director. Maybe more creative director. The art director is taking care of the artistic side when the creative director manages everything. From the art director to every single position of a project. I strongly believe I am able to do that. I am already doing that. I am working for clients who want to do creative projects in Congo. And even if I am not there on a project I know where to go, who to call, I know where to find people to work with and how to manage a project from here now. So yeah, you want any project done in Congo (or anything African related), I am your Woman. Also I can create that relationship between an artist and a corporation. Being the bridge, that would be me.
I have my artistic projects to feed all the anger or frustration I have towards the corporate world but at the same time, I find that working in the corporate world is an opportunity to change things that I am fighting against so it’s like using the devil to fight the devil (Laughing).
P.M . — I know both worlds, I can separate myself and say yeah, they just want to hit the target with their product, ok, fine! Let’s create and go home! I have my artistic projects to feed all the anger or frustration I have towards the corporate world but at the same time, I find that working in the corporate world is an opportunity to change things that I am fighting against so it’s like using the devil to fight the devil (Laughing). If I had to create an advert for Coca-Cola I would have a problem with that obviously, and I would probably turn down the job with a lot of excruciating pain . Now, if Coca-Cola wants to make an effort and be more eco/responsible, why not? Before, I wanted to be a citoyen du monde. Now I don’t want to anymore…
I am a congolese-french photographer and a woman, have a lot to say and that should be considered as value. That’s what makes my art unique. And if you don’t know how, let me show you!
What are your skills?
P.M . — So photography as we know it. Filmmaker (editing, color grading, sound editing…) and more recently visual artist. I used to be a graphic designer (creating everything from web design, logotype and branding) — that’s a skill but I no longer want to do projects in that field, still, it’s good to have the knowledge because that shows my ability to be a creative director.
I was doing tai chi during the lockdown and somehow it started to become a choreography so now a friend of mine who’s a professional dancer is helping me express my body in dancing/performance. It also helps me throughout the creative process so everything is linked. Because when I feel my body I feel my feelings.
What’s next?
P.M . — The performance part in exhibitions (visual arts). Because it brings your statement to another level: when you have the video to support pictures in an exhibition it’s really great because, what your pictures cannot say, the movements and sounds can. And now I wanna have the performance as well. Because the body has its own language. I started to realize this because as a photographer it all comes to a time when your body starts to show some signs of the load of the work. So I was doing tai chi during the lockdown and somehow it started to become a choreography so now a friend of mine who’s a professional dancer is helping me express my body in dancing/performance. It also helps me throughout the creative process so everything is linked. Because when I feel my body I feel my feelings.
this comes hand in hand with my process as well, where I list down the skills I have not just by writing them but also by associating them with the memory in the body, where they are stored and how I use them, how much of my body is at work and what do I need to do in order to have a harmonious development and use of my persona…
P.M . — Yes that is exactly that! So my body hurts, I let the pain take over, move, follow the pain until this whole thing becomes a dance. The pain is turned into something beautiful, it’s actually very relaxing… Yeah, my body starts to feel the load of all the instruments I use on set… So I have to find a way to express that too… You know, they just don’t design photography tools for women!
You know about the male gaze right? Did you know there is a female gaze?! As a matter of fact there is a female Congolese gaze and that is what I AM SELLING as a special skill too!
No, a what? [googled it]
P.M . — You know about the male gaze right?You know about the male gaze right?Ok so there is a female gaze and a male gaze. So if there’s a female gaze, there’s a black female gaze. Obviously, there is a white female gaze, an Asian female gaze etc. and I have seen it. I felt it. When I was hired for the first time only because I was black and a woman to serve a project. I did not feel insulted, but I asked my client why and she said: the portrait that you are going to take is of an old woman who is black, who is very sick, she was a writer, big shot, but now she is vulnerable, so we cannot have a man and we cannot have a white man for this job. And her husband is white so it was not about race alone…
P.M . — It was about the person who was going to take the shot and what was going to come out of it.
There is a sensibility that you get as a woman that men don’t and as a black woman when you take a picture it cannot be the same gaze. And sometimes, the picture will only be successful because of that. It’s not about a “beautiful picture”, it’s about what it says and that comes from how the person felt when he/she was photographed. So, there! I am selling my gaze!
*Thank you, @Prisca Munkeni Monnier! It has been a great honour to share with you and learn from your experience.
*This interview was video recorded.
