FRANCOIS ROUSSEAU IS ONE OF THESE FEW PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO HAS BEEN ABLE TO CREATE A CERTAIN STYLE THAT CAN CLEARLY BE SEEN AS HIS SIGNATURE. EVEN THOUGH HIS WORK HAS EVOLVED OVER THE PAST YEARS, THE WAY HE CREATES HIS IMAGES IS TYPICAL AND DIRECT RECOGNIZABLE AS A FRANCOIS ROUSSEAU PIECE OF ART.






François Rousseau’s curiosity brings him to places. He is a man who travels around and these influences clearly find their way in his photographic and video work. But no matter were François goes, he always manages to find the right guy in the perfect surrounding. François’s work distinguishes itself by its unique style. His photos often look natural, spontaneous. Yet they are all created according to the artists vision. Featuring beautiful men with a specific look in their eyes, challenging, seducing, and often giving you the feeling you are the intruder.

François, over the years you have produced and published many projects. Between 2002 and 2008, what are for you the most important projects by year, and can you explain in one sentence why?
François: i really found what i was looking for with the realization of the Habibi project in new York, in 2002. Now, since a few months i’m living in New York, were I’m planning to stay for one year, to fully concentrate on my next exhibition, which will be following the same line I created with Habibi. I will return to Paris in February 2008 when the exposition will run for three months in the MEP (Maison Européenne de la photographie).

Recently you did a photo shoot with full time hottie Chad White, in Death Valley Can you share this experience with us?
François: OUT Magazine in New York asked me to realize a fashion shoot, based on the theater piece Equus, by Peter Shaffer. I read the piece and really felt I wanted to do this series, because I was so touched by the relation between men and horse. I just has one condition: I insisted on working with Chad. It turned out to be a great production, with a good budget and in a fantastic surrounding. And Chad is truly a very very very beautiful guy! And so adorable… I can’t wait to do another project with him…very soon!

Investigating your site, we discover you seem to have a special passion for Tahiti. What is it that attracts you in this island?
François: Over the last seven years I have always been realizing my projects nearby water. During these years I had a coworker who was also a surfer and he insisted on going to Tahiti… and he was so right… When you are fascinated by the ocean, Tahiti is the place to be. It is really magical. I met someone who has become a very dear friend, which was even more reason to fall in love with Tahiti.
The culmination of all these trips will be my new book and CD ‘Ora,’ by Marval and to be released on October 15. There will also be an exposition in a Parisian gallery. Soon all will be revealed on my website.

Tell us about your most recent project: The Tudors.
François: The Tudors was a commissioned project. It was my first biog campaign in the United States. I worked with the team of Showtime and it was truly amazing. It is no legend: Americans are really the professionals in entertainment and big productions. The shooting was totally 'Hollywoodian,' but at the same time they asked me to create photos that are very pictorial and European. It was quite an experience to see my ‘paintings’ on huge billboards in Los Angeles and in metro stations in new York earlier this Spring.

If Beautiful would have unlimited financial resources, and we would decide to invest that in you, what would be your biggest fantasy to realize?
François: That would definitely be the project I’m working on for the past 4 years already. It is a mixture of photo, video and music. I will give you my bank information for a donation – ha ha ha.

What is the best thing that ever happened to you in your life?
François: To be gay! What a happiness!
Besides photography, what else do you enjoy in life?
François: Friendship… Electronic music and Philip Glass… A sunset on the ocean… A good meal… A sexy guy…
Do you have any secrets we can persuade you to share with us?
François: I have secrets, like everyone else. Some of them are hidden in my work…

Let’s go more intellectual. Please react to the following in just a few words:
The quality you prefer in a man: François: Strength.
The quality you prefer in a woman: François: Their quality to love.
How to seduce you: François: Mmmm. Start by inviting me for a good dinner… (lol)
Your biggest flaw: François: Egocentrism, logically!
Your biggest quality: François: Respect.
What you appreciate most in your friends: François: Their laughs.
And in your enemies: François: Their capacity to stay.
Favorite hobby: François: Music and reading.
What is your dream of happiness: François: Continuing to continue. Keep going.
What would be your greatest calamity: François: Too lose my sight and my vision.

Finally, we want to give you the opportunity to say something nice – or naughty – to our readers, so go ahead.
François: That would be a sentence written in a book that I’m currently reading and that is giving me so much inspiration: "on the arsenal of meat, beauty is like a layer of silk." Big kiss from me to all of you.