Steve Duteuil was born on July 30th 1972 and grew up on a council estate on the outskirts of Paris. As a child of a single mother, he stood little chance of remaining a child for long, being all too aware of the difficulties and responsibilities of life.
Steve was a good athlete and thanks to intensive training and discipline, he became a 110-m hurdles top athlete sprinter.
When he was 23 years old he found a job as an ITC specialist providing MAC support to a company with a branch in Paris and Brussels. This brought him into frequent contact with the graphics sector and the world of advertising.
In November 2006 he decided to make a very special journey to rediscover himself. He chose Iceland because of its purity. He was looking for simplicity and a way of bringing his emotions into balance.
While in Iceland he started taking photographs for the first time, mainly to preserve the memory of the wonderful things he was experiencing, the good memories, which he hoped would replace of the bad, old ones. Though he also appreciated being alone, he nevertheless wanted to share his experiences with others in his own way, without too many words. He returned with a stockpile of photographs. But what had been a one-off intention never left him. Photography is now Steve's number-one medium of communication, the tool that serves to control his emotions and crystallize his thoughts. It provides him with his very own way of looking at the world around him, of expressing it and sharing it with others.


SPECIALIST AREAS

Architectural collection
Steve grew up on the outskirts of Paris, in one of the numerous social housing apartment blocks. He was absolutely fascinated by the repetitiveness, the equilibrium and the harmoniousness of that particular architecture. It triggered an abiding interest in architecture and architectural photography was one of his first passions.


Street photography
Equally important to Steve at the moment is his street photography. As a teenager he roamed the streets for hours on end, visiting different parts of Paris.
When he discovered the photographer Saul Leiter in November 2008, he realized that his work and Saul Leiter's had a great deal in common.
Perspective, colour, light and chance are all huge challenges; elements that cannot be controlled and which have to be brought together in the right way and at the right moment to create a powerful and original image.
Colour plays a very important role in this. A striking colour detail creates the atmosphere but also captures an era. Street photography is not 'timeless' like black and white photography; it defines the here and now!

Commercial work
Besides his artistic work, the occasional commercial assignment is a financial necessity.
Even in his commercial work, Steve tries to preserve his individuality and to express his own very special vision, whilst paying great attention to technique and quality.

text: Sabine Denissen

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