Bernard Plossu on Photography, Intuition, and the 'Invisible Abstract'

In the interview book 'L'Abstraction invisible' (Textuel), photographer Bernard Plossu reflects on his life and work, emphasizing an intuitive, anti-intellectual approach to the medium. He describes photography as a way of being in the world, favoring a 50mm lens for its 'just distance' and neutrality. Plossu rejects the 'decisive moment' of Henri Cartier-Bresson, instead seeking 'non-time' atmospheres. He insists on composition as an abstraction of lines of force. Though often associated with hazy black-and-white, he has been a colorist from the start. His favorite images are those that seem failed, which he keeps in an 'experimental' box never shown in France. He claims a lineage with Corot's 'French classicism' but maintains a distance from art, stating he became a photographer because it is a professional activity, not an ethereal one.