Meeting EXTERFACE

I know them by their first names, Julien and Stéphane, but for the world they are only EXTERFACE. I’ve always been a fan of them, I chased their photos from blogs to the tumblr network, where fashion addicted people from all over the world publish and repost their new works, especially the ones related to an imaginary that mixes eroticism and pop culture. But Julien and Stephane, who maintain a certain mystery around their surnames and their private life, are much more than the images that circulate, more than a lot of other photographers I consider them capable of capture with humor, sensuality and glamour our contemporary zeitgeist and I expect great things from them in the future. Recently they have launched their online magazine MUTO, which will soon come to the fourth chapter and many are the collaborations on which they are working.

Obviously I have done everything to talk to them and they have kindly accepted, so here’s my interview with EXTERFACE!

First of all, tell me how did you begin working as a photographer?
It really happened by chance actually! First we assisted a photographer and did modeling for some of his projects. This collaboration made us quite familiar with photography, cameras, settings, lights and it gave us the need to experiment by ourselves, express our own ideas, develop our own esthetic process! As well as photographers, we’re both graphic designers, so it must have played a role in the game. Even though we were beginners, we had a strong vision of what we wanted our work to look like.

How is working as a duo? How do you divide your works? Do you compromise a lot?
Working as a duo is the key for Exterface and our work. We begun that way and it will always be the same. Hopefully for us, we share the same vision, the same tastes and are happily going in the same direction with passion. This is what you can call an artistic fusion. We’ve never compromised ourselves, so far. Nothing is worth the freedom we have in what we do, Exterface is all about being free!

Which do you think are the most important steps in your career so far?
Our first book ‘The Thing He Loves’, the first exhibition for our project ‘The X faces of Fred Faurtin’ in Paris, the meeting of the stylist and pygmalion Nicolas Chicanot, who told us we could accomplish great things in the fashion world. Our magic collaboration with David Mason, the creative director of Slick It Up. Having the chance to work for creative and inspirational brands, sharing love and respect with amazing people, collaborators, muses, friends. The biggest step in our career and the most recent one is the release of our first visual manifesto ‘MUTO’, which is today the best way for us to express ourselves, creatively. 

How do you choose your models? What do you find attractive? What does usually catch your eye in a person to decide you want to take a picture of him/her?
Interesting people that have something to say. People that aren’t afraid of pushing their own limits. We stand for beauty! Age, race, difference are irrelevant. We’d rather go for a spark in the eye,  strong charisma, sensuality…

Where do you find inspirations for your works? Do you have style icons, people you admire? Which other photographers and artists have inspired you during the years?
Inspiration comes from anything: dreams, songs, movies and, most of all, people. Carine Roitfeld, Alexandre Vauthier, Riccardo Tisci, Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen, Matthew Zink, David Mason, Madonna.
Steven Klein, Mert & Marcus, Bruce Weber, Robert Mappelthorpe, Tom of Finland, Matthew Barney, Damien Hirst, William Bouguereau, Jean-Léon Gérôme,  Caravaggio. For us they all have in common a taste for eroticism, extravaganza, beauty, strength, fantasy, colors.  Being all daring and constantly pushing limits with their work.

You work a lot with an erotic imagery. Which is the line that separates –in your opinion – art and pornography?
Our work is sensual, erotic, but there is nothing pornographic in it. But it all depends on the public eye: risqué, shocking, vulgar, or even beautiful, you never know! The point is, we never deal with gratuity! Every look, attitude, position has a purpose and is true to the character and the story we’re telling. We also have a strong esthetic approach which takes the situation to another level.

What do you think about fashion? Do you think that fashion and art can be related?Fashion is inspiring! Fashion is a work of art in itself, no doubt about it.

Which importance had the web in your success so far?
It’s the base of everything for us and our work. It’s not the key, but it’s the base. With the web, we’ve been able to share and show our work widely, without any limits. We had the opportunity to be in contact with people we admire, to keep in touch with people that love what we do as well.

Plans for the future?
Fourth volume of ‘MUTO’ coming out early november. We really want to develop this project, print it and go on and on! Of course, more projects, collaborations, fashion stories. We work ‘in the moment’ so it may sound pretty vague, but it’s nice to be surprised, isn’t it?

Le copertine dei primi tre numeri di MUTO / the covers of the first three issues of MUTO

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