Stephane Tougard's photostream  

Everything started a long time ago in St Denis in France, during the night of the 9th of June 1970 : I was spanked for the first time of my life. Against this very first aggression, I found nothing better to do than shout as strong as I could. I learned later that was as well my first breathing in this world.

Before that, I don’t remember what happened. Some teacher tried during all my childhood to teach me how was the world before I came to life. I’ve never understood how teacher can make history so boring. When I visit a museum, an old house or a Chateau, I’m always the first one to listen to the guide, I go to Wikipedia to read the story of this King, or how life was in 1514 (just before Marignan). But I never get more bored than trying to learn that after Louis XIV, there was Louis XV, then Louis XVI … and so on and so on. Learn how to count, does not that belong to mathematics ?

Anyway, from king to war, from war to now … I always thought that I was so lucky to come to life during a peaceful time (at this time, I did not know yet that France was very uncommonly a peaceful country, but that war and misery was still day to day life in many places in the world).

I was 15 years old when my father bought my first camera : a Fuji ST1n for me to play. It was still a time where you have to know what is an aperture and how to focus before you can make a photograph. The 50mm was just a standard lens, no wide angle, no zoom, just this lens who is always too far or too close but never at the right distance to make a good photograph. I don’t think I ever made a good photograph at this time. Anyway, I did not keep any photograph from this time.

What’s interesting about me after that ? not so many in fact. I’ve been poor, really poor in my life, I’ve been rich (very when you look at how much I’ve been poor). I’ve made a few companies, not one of them has been really successful, make a business in France is so hard. I’ve never been really good at making business anyway, even if I keep trying. I’ve been married, but I’m so hard living that my wife has divorced to reach a Christian association. I’m not really sure what she’s doing now, I think she’s still trying to get back a normal life after 15 years living with me.

Today, I’m living in Asia, Singapore and Nanjing depending on my mood and my needing. I love China, it looks like the Paris of Doisneau or Cartier Bresson. it’s a lot of reason for me to make more photographs and my best shoots come from there. I’m re-married, I hope for the last time (this one does not believe in God, competition will be less hard for me). My wife is Chinese and if you search in my gallery you should be able to find a few photographs of her.

What can I say more ? ah yes, the like/not like. So I like :

* Mozart
* Cartier Bresson and Doisneau
* French food
* China
* My job
* Free Software (Free as a speech, not as a beer)

I don’t like :

* People who write “he” on their blog when they write about themself
* Everything with more than 3 wheels
* Israel
* G.W. Bush (and all the philosophy who goes behind).
* Intellectual property, patents and all this bullshit used by big companies to kill small ones
* Microsoft