Julien Grassiot: Mérida

I’m Julien, I’m originally from La Rochelle in France and I’ve been living in Montreal for 5 years now.

My art studies and interests have always nurtured in me a passion for images. I have always been sensitive to painting and cinema. So it was obvious when I turned to photography more than ten years ago.

When I discovered the book The Americans by Robert Frank I knew I was going to focus on street photography. After a more or less punctual 10-year practice, going through digital, film and photocollage, I decided to pursue my passion more intensely by enrolling in a photography school.

This series is the result of a 10-day vacation spent in Merida, Mexico. I spent long hours photographing this vibrant city, its colorful facades, its many covered markets. Inspired by photographers such as Alex Webb, I really focused on the composition of my images, on the colors, the light and the arrangement of the protagonists in my frame in this constant search for the new and ephemeral scene.

I find it remarkable the way his characters are situated on different layers of the image, like the actors on a theatre stage. It’s very complex to do. To achieve this I was able to count on the benevolence of the Mexicans, their warmth and their smiles.

I thank them for that, it was a real pleasure. This made me realize that I wanted to go into photojournalism or documentary