Sebastien Zanella – Photographer’s Profile

Sebastien Zanella founder and editor in chief of Desillusions Mag has an awesome unique style of photography. His images transport the true mood of the moment he freezes on film. Sebatien’s pictures are rough, honest and romantic. We’re proud to have him here and are thankful for the insights on his life and his point of view on photography.

It would be cool if you could tell us something about you as a person. How, why and when did you came up with the mag? Where you are from? What did you do in the past and what will your future look like?
Owwww, shit. Haha. I ‘m not use to be in this position, usually that’s me, The interviewer for Desillusion. Right now I know : that’s the hardest position…to be able to answer to this question in few words. Delimitate your life, in just some sentences. Fuck. My life was more complicated than everybody thinks. I come from Cannes, south of France, I was that kind of rebel who does bullshit in skateboard and BMX, who thinks that is possible to touch, his dream without selling his soul. So I started a DIY fanzine in black and white, called Desillusion magazine. Almost ten years after, I live on the other side of France, Hossegor. I’m still running Desillusion magazine. Desillusion was growing with me and right know is more than a magazine, I hope it is more. Kind of a «collective» with a lot of photographers, writers and artists involved. Every two months, they share the same idea: skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding as an excuse to be creative, to travel, to meet some other personalities and to do some crazy fuck’in report … haha. Yeah, skate, snow, surf, is not just about action, cause you can find action in soccer, running, … It’s more than that and we hope that Desillusion magazine puts these feelings on paper!

[Hell yeah! You guys are doing a great job! That's why Desillusion stands out from the rest. And made it pretty fast in the top three of our fav magazines!]Why do you even shoot in the first place, what took you there?
Photography for me is like giving a sense to uncountable things, random situations, absences and moments. If I see something, I shoot just like I breathe. I do that since my childhood and like I said, that’s giv’in a sense to my life, giv’in kind of soul to objects, help me to find beauty everywhere I go.

What kind of gear do you use?
Oh man, I use only 35 mm point of shoot camera, analog of course. I threw away my Canon 5D digital 3 months ago, when I came back from India.

Why do you obviously still shoot analog?
Like I just said, I gave away my Digital camera, like this, I’m sure to never use it anymore. I shoot analog caus I get sick about perfection. Digital is all about perfection, tak’in the best shot, touching up to make it better, changing the reality to a kind of fuck’in alien world… like fake breast, you know. Like plastic surgery… You see all this girls how have fake nose, breast etc… they are so looking the same. That’s the main idea behind perfection and behind the fact that you want to control everything. At the end everything looks the same. With analog you can’t lie to yourself, to yours eyes, with your model. You just take the soul.

Where do you get your inspiration for such moodful pictures from?
I am so lucky to be the editor in chief of Desillusion magazine, that gives me the opportunity to meet so many crazy photographers, artists and personalities. That’s the happy part of my influence, the other, is that in my life I was so disappointed by many things, I think that’s the romantic/mellow part of my pics. I hope all my pics tell that: Unless the crazy and fucked world where we live, if you open your eyes, humanity gives you some priceless moments, pure objects, beautiful traces of absences, funny subliminal message.

Sebastien, thanks a lot for taking the time to answer these personal questions! It’s an honor to have you here. We wish you all the best. High five!
The gallery beneath features a selection of Sebastien’s life and work. But as said it’s only a small collection. Make sure to heck his web:

personal website: sebastienzanella.com
daily blog: zeb.dslmag.com
Flickr