Pierre Aé: On Creativity
Marianna
Do you have a routine for entering into a creative headspace?
Pierre
Not really, as ideas can pop up at any given moment during the day, following a conversation with someone, a walk outside, etc. However, I do have some patterns to follow when I need to go for a photoshoot, or start to write an article, etc: always listening to music that matches my current mindset.
Try to be alone, with music, not much else. It's also about giving space to your thoughts, to your happiness/sadness, and seeing what they say to you. It's thinking selfishly about yourself only for a bit, even if your day is fully crammed with obligations etc.
Marianna
Do you have habits you've built for yourself to foster creativity?
Pierre
Force myself to do something, go out, try new things, even if I’m not in the mood. Fight against the lazy part of your brain which tells you to lay down and just wait for the next day.
Marianna
Where do you think ideas come from?
Pierre
There are two types of ideas. The selfish and deeply buried ones from yourself, for yourself, that will/may sound stupid for everyone else: the obsessions that you need to put out and work on, to avoid being hurt by the frustration of not doing something about it. And there are ideas related to your work with others, where you adapt yourself, create by being fully inspired by someone else, or even just execute someone else's vision.
Marianna
What does creativity mean to you?
Pierre
An escape plan.
Marianna
When do your best ideas hit you?
Pierre
I unfortunately barely sleep at night, no matter what I do, even if I’m extremely tired. And my professional life doesn't allow me to catch back the lack of sleep during the day. This was a curse for a long time, and it's still a burden now, but I use those long hours during the night, to wander around in my head and find new ideas. If the idea sticks in my head the next morning, then it is something worth pursuing.
I came up with some of my weirdest projects from being in this state, when the body tries to sleep but the mind remains alert, despite being smashed by sleeping pills. The mix of sleep medicine, actions taken during the day before, and projects you might do in the future mash all together into a weird maelstrom of sounds and colors.
At night, lying on my bed, I have all the free time I want to think about wormholes, different timelines, where our galaxy sits in, and what is after our observable universe. No way I'd have time to think about that dumb stuff if I was sleeping well.
It's nearly a matter of survival really, it's either be at peace by using this time for something creative or decaying mentally, desperately chasing sleep.
Marianna
Many creatives are pivoting and finding ways to adjust their creative process during the quarantine.
1) How have you been channeling your creativity during this time?
2) Discover anything new or surprising about yourself?
Pierre
I had to basically rethink what I like to do since most of the work I'm involved in (concerts, parties, meeting people) are now non-existent, or canceled. It's about finding alternatives, different projects that could also push you out of your comfort zone, even if it means doing something at home.
It's also about forcing yourself to care, not to let go, fighting against the urge to stay on a sofa watching Netflix and not much else, since it is at the moment the safest thing to do for everyone. Instead of documenting the parties and the crowded places, go for the reversed side of it, and stroll in empty streets and deserted shopping areas, or just stay home and try to create with your own Oulipian constraints, just with your cat and the weird colors of your wall.
Marianna
What unexpected turns did your life take to lead you to become who you are today?
Pierre
I wanted to work in music, but permanently disabled my ears because of it, leading to me having to drop everything related to it. After a couple of hazy and empty years, I started taking photos of events, concerts, etc, and felt that I could mix both passions together (protect your ears people!)
Marianna
What sources of inspiration do you use to foster creativity in your work?
Pierre
1/ Music, music, music. It sounds weird, but I don't think I would have started doing photography without music. I don't see my photos existing without the albums I've listened to at the time. Or the feeling would maybe be wildly different.
2/ The haziness caused by the lack of sleep and my ear medicine.
3/ Looking at people that I find beautiful and fascinating. The lonely souls you meet in clubs, bars. The flaws, the scars, the tattoos, the clothes, the backstories.
Marianna
What creative projects are you most proud of?
Pierre
The ones I had fun doing, no matter the result. For example, all the photos were taken for the french musician Hyacinthe, for his last album Rave. It's about taking 3 days roaming around London, going from dirty clubs to seedy streets, soaked with too many beers and blinded by the neons. It's about meeting random people, going to random places, and letting the odd and unplanned creep in. Just having a general idea at the start, and seeing how it will turn out after three days of riding the city deep at night, with a mind too blurred to remember the next day or what happened the night before.
I'm also quite proud of the club pictures I am taking. I heard too many times that nightclubs photos are, for a lot of people, not considered as "art" at all, or even as one of the lowest rank projects a photographer could do, but I'm too fascinated to care. I've too much in love with people going to clubs, lost in their thoughts and crushed by the music, very often trying to bury the traumas of their month in just 2 hours of quick euphoria, giving us the energy to survive one more week, and I'm trying to capture that.
Behind the gloss and the smiles, I think clubs are very melancholic places, with a lot of people going to those places just for a moment of abandonment, and it's beautiful.
Marianna
Why do you think people get stuck on problems?
Pierre
Stress and fear of failing, or worrying about other people's points of view.
Marianna
How do you make sense of chaos in your life?
Pierre
Positive chaos keeps you alive. Doing nothing hurts. Easy to say, but I guess it's about accepting the sharp turns thrown at you, hopefully not too bad, and making the best of it.
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About Pierre Aé:
Pierre Aé is a photographer living in Tokyo for 11 years now, focusing on club pictures, concerts, and the streets at night. He wanted to be a musician but had no talent there, so he picked up photography instead.
To avoid working as a host in Japan, Pierre tried to take pictures of Tokyo’s underground bands in dirty live houses for a few bucks. He began to consider that it could be good to expand and diversify his skills after a concert in Shibuya where the lead singer puked intentionally on the audience. Pierre started taking pictures in most of Tokyo's clubs, for electronic, indie, and hip-hop parties. Meanwhile, in parallel with the glossy Shibuya events, Pierre tries to dig into Japanese subcultures and captures the hidden & dark side of Tokyo. He also spends too much time walking in Tokyo streets at 3 am taking pictures.
Pierre can't be happier than when one of his photos lands on the cover of a music album. You can check his photos on Instagram @pierreae.