JEROME DREYFUSS Fall/Winter 12/13

Last february i shot French designer Jerome Dreyfuss's next catalog. always a pleasure to work with him
and his crew. here are some spreads from the catalog featuring Virginie Lanoue & Mohini Geisweiller.

HEK LIVE IN PARIS

I only shoot live photos for my own pleasure, wich means only for bands or artists i love or respect a lot.
Hanni El Khatib is sure one of those, and after missing 4 of his Parisian lives over the last 2 years i finally
could give a positive answer to his invitation for his gig at La Maroquinerie last February.
damn it was good and powerfull, only 2 men on stage and full raw energy. he's The man.

CHATOKHINE GOT MY BACK

In order to make sure the bike is ready, i spent another lovely day at Chatokhine's HQ in Ouerray last monday. it didn't start well for me as i killed my back loading the BSA in the Van. it was 6 am and for some reason i didnt use the ramp and got screwed. i still can barely walk but got lot of hope it will be fixed for Dirt Quake.
Frank spent the entire day making dozen of nice spacers for the BSA. he killed it.
i had broke my wallet to buy a pair of Maxxis DTR-1, and first surprise was : they don't fit !
the frame is so narrow it won't let em get in. luckily i had a pair of Heidenaus K-34.
i still need to install the Cut-Out Switch that i am waiting from Foxy, and still need to find a way to set up the carburation. damn, this bike still works only On or Off, no mid-rpm's, i hope to get it runnin well on time.

READY FOR DIRT QUAKE ?

Dirt Quake minus 10 days, since first day i saw the poster i knew i couldn't miss this event. i've been dreaming of FlatTrack since years, and decided this would be the right time to break the ShortTrack cherry. i have never experienced riding on an oval, so i entered the race and will have my first attempt

on race day. ok this is a bit sketchy as i may be slow or unable to handle it, but it worth a try, and at least i do have a weapon for that : my 73 BSA B50mx Short-Tracker. i own this sexy beauty since a year now, and have been able to ride it only on straight asphalt. the bike is tiny as i like and narrow as a model's ass, light, brutal and almost ready to race. can't wait to be on site at Coventry's Speedway sharing the experience with all the cool guys from UK.

8 DAYS OF PERSOL

Last fall, i've been part of a very cool project that was launched last month for iconic eyebrand Persol.
i've been asked with 7 other contemporary filmmakers to direct a "carte blanche" video.
every artist had just a word to work as a starting point then was free to express himself. each word symbolizes one step in the making of a Persol product.
i was given the word “INSPIRATION”

Inspiration can come from a smell, a noise, a colour, a curve, whatever, but i decided u don't necessarly get it and sometimes need to go on  a quest for it.
I thought i mainly find inspiration on the road, so i jumped in a plane to LA, then cruise for three days and 1400 miles in my Boogie Van helped with my good friend Steve Zeitzoff, and pretty much freestyle filming landscapes and atmospheres on the road. very simply.
My idea is that Inspiration isn't something easy to catch, even if you have it in you, you might need, sometimes to look for it or just look for the mental state or cencentration required to get connected with yourself, and...get inspired.

Go check http://www.persol.com/international/days and take some time to also watch the other films directed by such artists as Ari Marcopoulos, Gregoire Alexandre, Asa Mader, Alistair Taylor-Young, Fabio Paleari, Katerina Jebb and Yi Zhou.

A big thank you to Hanni El Khatib for the music.
here are some stills from my film, travel high !

Additional camera : Steve Zeitzoff
Editing : Marc Aurele Vecchione
Production Manager : Benoit Giraud
Production : OSFA films for L'Ecurie
Agency : Publicis
Post Production : Digimage
Music : Hanni El Khatib
client : Persol Brand

89th PPIHC RACE DAY

this legendary race is for early risers ! on race day, Steph Oldschool and i made it to the pits for 3.50am. there was already a 3 miles line of spectators waiting at the toll gate. 

Coffee time with Joe Blackwell, Glenn Cox and Stephane Lascols. Glenn is a fast racer from New Mexico, he'll finish 4th later today in the 1200cc class with his KTM Superduke.

FAN FEST

it's a tradition, Fan Fest the night of the last practice day. 40 000 people meet in the streets of Colorado Springs to eat, drink, watch historic racing vehicles on display and some fmx air shows. we didn't spent too long on location, woke up at 2.00 am, werent ready to party, and reached a good sleep very early.

"Steph Oldschool" is wacked, so am i

GO PRO

Go Pros are great, and conveniant, but all the accessories are crap. so many vibrations on my bike climbing the hill, that GoPros clamps broke twice, and i was lucky on raceday, some cool peeps gave me my GoPro back when i was coming down after racing. well it sure isn't perfect yet, but they sell so much of those that i'm sure they'll improve soon some better clamping systems. otherwise, i do have some ideas....

at least you can check what it is when all riders are going down the hill after each practice run. most of us just coast watching the view. crusing in the middle of 150 bikes at 14000ft is something for sure.

WICH FUEL ?

after riding the practice with high octane, i went back to pump gas to compare. of course the altitude in Colorado Springs isn't the same, so we drained, put again some 112, drained again tried different fuel cocktails. Damn the bike felt so fast in the city compare to the mountain.

PPIHC PRACTICE DAY 3

Last day of Pratcice. Top section. the pits take place on "Devil's Playground". breathtaking when the sun comes up. it's a bit cold at 4.00 am.

a morning in heaven. long fast curves full speed chest on the tank. great sensations. the end of the top section was a lil less fun for me as it was long straight uphills, i felt like i could ad cranks & pedals to my bike like a ol fashioned moped, she was battling so hard and couldn't get higher rpm's.

after Practice, Stephane who walked for hours in the mountain to find good spots and i were exhausted, everybody was left before we realised. and we just stayed a bit chillin with Travis 747 and his cool dog "Baja".

Driving the Boogie Van down the mountain was sketchy. after half way we had to stop for 45mn to let the brakes cool down, the ranger measured 480°f !

TRAVIS NEWBOLD #747

                                                               Travis and his dog Baja.
                                                                  check his blog Here