When I began working at the agency, I knew by the end of the first week that it wasn’t going to be creatively fulfilling. I don’t really know why though, I just knew it. So I bought a film camera on eBay (a Nikon F2) and started to get into the work of photographers such as Theo Gosselin, Tamara Lichtenstein, and Edie Sunday. This process allowed me some creative relief, something that I could do just for me. It was an outlet that allowed me to produce work just for the sake of being creative and make memories with my friends in the meantime.

I worked at that position for a year and a half, and at the end I was really tired of it so decided to move to Melbourne (it’s really easy to get a one year visa for Australia, that’s one of the main reasons). While I was there I worked for a year at different agencies as their art director and when my visa expired, I went on a 3 months trip to Asia and visited Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Bali. After my trip I moved back to Paris for a year while I planned my relocation to Vancouver with a close friend of mine, where I am still currently living; though, I plan to move back to Paris soon. I haven’t done much in Vancouver, but I was able to take a road trip to Los Angeles and back, and made a short film The State of Nothing.

I have realized that I get bored easily, and this has resulted in me constantly moving as much as possible; though, I realize I need to settle down in Paris if I want to start making a career out of my photography. In regards to moving around to different cities: I usually just say yes and take a leap of faith I guess, I like saying yes to things that involve doing something I’ve never done before.

MB: When you took up photography did you try shooting digital first or did you jump headfirst into film? Why did you choose the Nikon F2 as your camera of choice and what was your first experiences shooting film like? Did you discover double exposures early on?

LD: I tried digital a few years back by borrowing a friend’s camera but didn’t really like it though, don’t know why. So yeah, I kinda jumped headfirst into film cause my favorite photographers were using film as well. Nikon F2 cause it appeared to be a solid camera, no electronics. I don’t take care of my stuff so I needed something heavy and unbreakable. The Nikon F2 delivers, dropped it on the concrete a few times, still works perfectly. I think it is the camera photographers used during the Vietnam war cause it is really solid. First experience was thrilling, I loved it ever since I got the first film developed - the grain, the feeling, the look of it - man, I was hooked.

The double exposure thing came quite early. I think it was on the third or forth roll, I was with a friends band on tour, shooting and hanging around, and my first double exposure was accidental. I was shooting them on stage, and what came out looked so trippy I really liked it, then I started shooting 5 to 6 double exposures on each roll. Now I’m mainly shooting double exposures.