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Extracts of an interview given by Isabelle Adjani for the magazine PHOTO (nr 310, May 1994), at the occasion of the release of La Reine Margot and an exceptional photo session with Richard Avedon, some samples of which are shown here. Translation by Marcel Durieux
PHOTO : Adjani-Avedon: the collision of two sacred monsters. How did this meeting go? Isabelle ADJANI : We had previously worked together at Belle-Ile, for the magazine Egoiste, mostly black-and-white photos. Avedon had loaned me Marilyn's sheepskin jacket... Avedon is someone extremely warm, living, young, passionate. He sets the stage and waits for you to incarnate his vision. Once it's there, he captures you quickly and well... Are you submissive or rebellious in the face of the master's lens? I don't like the lens, for it subdues... From the moment I became aware of the presence of a camera, that's to say, as a little girl, I've escaped... What I like with Dick is his old-fashioned manner of manipulation. He frames me in his viewfinder, then he stands next to his camera before fixing me on film. I have across from me a human face that doesn't hide in order to catch me. You often prefer black-and-white. Why that choice? I like black-and-white, I find it's the color of life. I would love to film in black-and-white. Do you live the same love story with a photo-camera as in front of a cine-camera ? I like to see photos, but, definitely, I don't like to make them! Do you keep track of the choice of lights and objectives? In cinematic work, I know certain technical details, but for photography, none. When I work with talented people, I let them do it themselves, after we have agreed. Better not to try to intervene, to avoid giving them trouble and upsetting everybody. What are your motivations when you accept a sitting? Most times it goes with some professional event. Several years ago, when I posed for Avedon, it was only as a nice gesture and for the magazine Egoiste. Currently Avedon has an exposition at New York, in the Whitney museum, and it's there that one becomes aware his photography is true art. For me, it's a privilege to figure in his art... Could you pose without hiding behind the hands of a make-up assistant, naturally, without artificialities? To the point where you would not suspect it! I do it with my friend Marie-Francois Banier who photographs me on the run, without asking my input... just to upset me. Sometimes, it's perfect. It comes out as it comes out, but with a look that belongs only to her. In New York I've posed for Andre Rau, very natural photos, easy, playful, normal, where I felt normal... I like it a lot. In films, you always portray women with strong characters. Aren't you afraid to loose your soul? To loose it, certainly not! To put it to the test, yes. The soul is made to be tested, otherwise it doesn't evolve. People that lift you spiritually and humanly are never a threat of corruption. Is sophistication your personal mark? Oh, but no! From time to time I have to protest. Why so much make-up, clothes, hair-dos? It's not me! The look that's put on your outside is rarely the same as that which makes you yourself. Because you give so much to the lens, is there time left for human beings? There is all my time for true life and for true people whom I love. Marguerite de Navarre bathed in a setting of murders and conspiracies. The hateful rumor about you several years ago, did it help you for that role? The inheritor of that experience is Camille Claudel. The princess Margot - she has never been queen - lives in a closed world. She is unreachable. It is love that makes her vulnerable to the unexpected. Margot, inhuman at the beginning, becomes human. That is what one must accept in ones earthly life in order to understand the divine message. From laughter to tears, do you baffle your surroundings as easily as your public? I have a very solid base, I am very reassuring for those who need me.
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