Julie is a pure working-girl of today: a Parisienne always connected, who juggles between her company, her kids and her good humour. After 12 years at LVMH, where she set up the Policy of cultural exhibitions for the Bon Marché group (Martin Parr, Vogue…), Julie surrounded herself with a major team to start Wipplay, a new cultural business model aimed at wide distribution… Result? An amazing collective venue that conveys democracy to author photography.
Interview with a Digital Girl as we like them, straight from the Rencontres d’Arles venue where the team opened the festivities for Voies Off with a projection dedicated to Turkey and is about to launch her first newspaper.
©Olivier Ezratty - Quelques Femmes du Numérique
What is the wipplay concept?
Wipplay is a communal platform gathering more than 38 000 photographers and that animates each week photo contests with creative brands. Winners are selected by expert jurors, that provide a seal of artistic legitimacy to their selection. These photos are then put up for sale on WipplayDéco.
The ambition of Wipplay is based on a simple assessment: while photography equipment and technology made this art accessible to the masses, art photography did not necessarily become democratic. The discovery of new talents, on the one side and the purchase of photographs, on the other hand, remain mainly in the hands of galleries, often at steep prices. This situation is frustrating for budding photo talents photo as well as for all those who enjoy decoration and pretty images. So between posters printed in great numbers and superb artist photos worth several thousands of euros, there was a place for photography that was at the same time à la affordable, and offering exacting artistic requirements. In other words, a real desire for beautiful daily objects.
For Wipplay, I wanted ready-to-wear luxury...
©Jérôme Bonnet - M o o d s
Your Parisienne combat attire?
Never without my bike and my Michel Vivien !
A working mum tip/ how to swing it all?
Let go of everything on Sunday. With my man and my kids, we renovated a boat that had beached near Paris during an entire winter. One goal: to take it out on the first week-end of June. We worked hard with polish and a karcher but… We met the challenge! Even if we have not yet slept on board!
The advantage, to polish a boat you need two hands… And it forces you to disconnect !
The not-to-be-missed show this Summer
I hesitate between the l Hara Kiri exhibition at the Rencontres d’Arles that made me howl with laughter and #LePouvoirDeLimpertinence with the very sensitive presentation of Francesca Woodman at the Cartier Bresson Foundation that remains one of my favourite photography venues.
Advice for beginners who want to invest in photography?
Come see us ! The team has just launched WipplayDeco, a real revelator of photography talents. Each day we dig up incredible nuggets that are printed on demand by Central Dupon, prestigious Parisian lab, that works with leading photographers around the world.
Our commitment: zero compromise AND affordable prices (starting at 70 €)
My advice : rush to “petites boîtes photographiques” !
©Yusuf Sevincli
Who is the new photographer to follow absolutely
Yusuf Sevincli, without any hesitation!
Spotted by the Les Filles du Calvaire gallery and chosen by Fany Dupéchez for the residency of Festival Portrait(s) last year, this is one of the new photographs that appeals to me the most at the moment. The hot gift tip : his book Walking published by Filigranes.
A little tip to make incredible photos ?
Think of changing your point of view to find yours. Move, scout locations, go back to the same place for lighting. Be obsessional. Sometimes it’s better to apologize than ask for an authorisation.
Never without …
My Swiss army knife ! A present from my father when I was little. I always have it in my pocket.
