Nicolas Blandin

The Termignon Project

Oct 09, 2017

Nicolas is a French photographer who creates captivating visual stories, which explore life and culture in different places around the world. With a simple and uncomplicated approach, Nicolas’ images immerse us in the lives and traditions of the people that he portrays. The series presented here focuses on the production of an almost extinct French cheese, the Termignon. A combination of carefully composed landscapes, portraits and stills creates the perfect atmosphere to narrate the story of this old herritage.

First of all thank you very much for your contribution to our project. Can you please introduce yourself for us?

Thanks for the invitation! My name is Nicolas Blandin, I’m a 35-year old French photographer based in the French Alps (Annecy) and a former translator. These days I split my time between freelance work, long-term personal projects and my 3-year old daughter.

How did you start in photography?

Photography arrived almost by accident. In 2007 I bought an old SX-70 Polaroid camera and fell in love with the physicality and uniqueness of the medium. Because the film was getting so rare and precious, I quickly learned to make the most of every frame. Then in 2011 I took a sabbatical from my translation job and travelled for almost a year through South America and New Zealand with my girlfriend and a backpack filled with the bare essentials, a medium format camera and a stack of film. At some point we stayed with an indigenous community at the foot of the Chimborazo in Ecuador, where I did my very first series of portraits, and I caught the bug.

What inspires your work?

The world is a well that never runs dry. I’m excited about looking at the world and how photography enables me to see something in a new way, how it can bring me to places and situations that I wouldn’t have a reason to be in otherwise. I also love the visual language it offers to translate invisible emotions and thoughts into something visible, and to transform the specific and ephemeral into the universal and enduring. I feel it’s a lifelong journey of discovery, of both the world and the self.

What is ‘The Termignon project’ about?

This ongoing (and as of yet untitled) long-term project documents the remaining traces of the Termignon blue cheese tradition in France’s Vanoise National Park. This rare and unique cheese dates back to the 18th century and is now manufactured by only five producers holding on to their heritage, ancestry, and connection with the land.

My intent with this project is to explore and document an evolving pastoral tradition and living heritage, present a nuanced portrait of an ancestral lifestyle as it unfolds across seasons, and ultimately question our relationship with the mountains and the natural world.

Who are your favourite photographers / artists?

The list is potentially endless and ever changing, but I particularly enjoy the works of Edward Hopper, David Hockney, Georgia O'Keeffe, Vermeer, Raphael, Paul Strand, Guido Guidi, Alec Soth, Jungjin Lee, Eva Vermandel, Gerry Johansson and Vanessa Winship to name just a few.

Favourite songs / bands at the moment?

These days it’s a mix of Four Tet, Nils Frahm, Typhoon (look up that Tiny Desk concert) and Palace.

What’s your favourite movie?

I don’t have a favourite movie, but I enjoy the cinema of Aki Kaurismäki, the Dardenne brothers, early Jarmusch… I loved Gondry’s ‘Science of Sleep’. These days I’m rediscovering Tarkovsky’s ‘Stalker’, it is such an incredible film.

What is your favourite photo book?

Again I don’t have a favourite, but these days I keep coming back to the following:

‘A New Map of Italy’ by Guido Guidi, ‘Bilad Es Sudan’ by Claude Iverné, ‘D’après Nature’ by Jean Gaumy, ‘Splinter’ by Eva Vermandel.