the video for Big Time Sensuality

Stephane : When I went to L.A. the first time, I heard her music and I was like, ’Wow, who is that person...". And I remember I had been contaceted by someone to do a portrait of an artist called Björk.

Björk : I’d been photographed by so many people, and you only come across a few in your whole life that have that sort of physical presence like Stephane. He’s taken photographs of Kurt Cobain, and they are the only photographs of Kurt Cobain, where I’ve seen him laughing out loud and dancing. But not like he’s immitating Stephane. Stephane just has that effect on people, that they go really strong. And they go really physically expressive. And you can see that gratitude, that they’re all expressing.

Stephane : I saw her face and I heard her music... and I couldn’t sleep.

Björk : He does portraits of people. But they’re like, in 3D, you know ? And that’s why it would be a shame if he only did photographs because he’s so great that he gets people to move.

Stephane : She contacted me to do Big Time Sensuality. And we were supposed to go to Iceland. But no matter how simple the idea was, going to Iceland was too big for the budget. And I was trying to find an idea...

Björk : We met several times and I kind of blabbered on about how I wanted it to be. You know, when you’re living on the edge and it’s about the courage to enjoy life.

Stephane : I went to New York and I was in a cab, and I was listening to the song and I looked around me and I saw that it would work amazingly with the city. With all the big buildings and everything and her voice. And at the end of the day I called her back and I said, "I’ve got an idea. I’ve got an idea" !

Björk : The best way to get me in that state, physically in front of a camera is to put me on a truck...

Stephane : That’s what we did. We took a truck and we drove the truck for one day, up and down...

Björk : Driving with a big P.A., with my own songs. I was very, very, very shy. And you know how New York people are. They were like, ’Hi honey, let me get up on there". They were pretty cool about it. So we drove for twelve hours in circles. And everybody was following the truck. So it was like a twelve hour concert.

Stephane : We stopped the truck, we did a U-turn. It was fantastic.

Björk : I just had to get as extroverted as humanly possible, and quickly.

Stephane : The performance was so unbelievable from the beginning to the end. From the first take to the last take. There was no need to do anything.

Björk : He makes a connection with people he’s filmed or photographed. And people on the other side of that connection can feel fueled with confidence. You feel very strong. But you are yourself, you don’t need him. And I think I haven’t met many people like that.

"Life Through A Lens" , 2002/08/17