Sésimbra | Tom Thiercelin
Sésimbra
Tom Thiercelin
"Hi everyone, my name is Tom Thiercelin. I’m a visual storyteller living on the French Riviera.
I’m passionate about art in all its forms and I have been involved in many actions such as the Inside Out Project or creative meets in Paris and here on the Côte d’Azur."
We’ve seen many of your lovely Sésimbra photos on your Instagram and website. Could you
describe a bit about this series?
Sésimbra is a series I made about this small Portuguese seaside town of the same name and its
surroundings. A little piece of paradise located in the south of the country, the kind of place where time seems to have stopped. This is the atmosphere I tried to seize through this series of images.
What was Sésimbra like? How did the environment influence your photography?
Sésimbra was a true breath of fresh air. There, most of the time you were only surrounded by nature, countless bushes, red earth, rocks and this mesmerizing blue. Even close to the few habitations that counted the town, you were never far from the ocean. Every path led to a different patchwork of warm and beautiful colors. Silence reigned supreme, letting enough space for you to connect with the instant.
What inspired you to photograph Sésimbra?
As I was driving on my way to Portugal – heading to the country without knowing exactly where I would stay for the days to come – I received a text from a friend telling me she would actually be in Portugal the next few days. We would never have expected to meet so far from our homes, in the middle of nowhere, there, in Sésimbra. And driven by this unexpected feeling of adventure, and by this impression of being seized by the moment, I started to shoot.
How would you describe your style and general aesthetic?
Through the pictures I take, I love to show the interactions between people and their environment. Human beings are essential in my work and I like to highlight their behavior and the way that their body reveals how they perceive the world around them. Turning the beauty of an instant into movement. Visually, I like to stick to simple compositions, almost aiming at minimalism. I also pay particular attention to the color palette and the natural light which play a key note in the mood I want to give. Before taking a picture, I already have a clear idea of the composition and the way I want it to look like. The hardest yet most interesting part is often to make the idea I have in mind match with what is
happening before my eyes.
