L'argent c'est rien, le respect c'est tout
- 23 x 33 cm
- Photography: Patrick Bona
- Layout: Pablo Jomaron
- First Edition of 300 Copies
- Interview with Patrick Bona
- Numbered & Signed
- Published by Red Lebanese
©2020, Patrick Bona / Red Lebanese
(excerpt from the interview with Patrick Bona / translated via google translator)
''Yes, in my work there is no staging. I take photos to immortalize moments of life. I also think there are some things that people don't see that need to be shown. Maybe people also pretend not to see them. For me at the beginning I just wanted to take pictures of my friends and the good times I spend with them, but over time it is clear that subjects and themes are created and photography allows me to pass messages. In the sense that in the environment in which I evolved we were not all born with the best conditions. Yet let me be clear, I am not into self-victimization. When I create an image, I think above all about the emotions, about the beauty of the moment, about highlighting people. I mainly photograph my relatives.
Even if there is a social dimension in my work, I don't think I claim to change the world, I do want to evoke the daily life of a certain class, of a generation. I’m not going to lie to you. I made a lot of bullshit when I was younger, I sold, I did the closet, but thanks to the photo I was able to get out of it and not stay focused on the evil.
Productivity, whatever the field is essential. From a young age I was rocked by the idea that if you don't carbonate you won't fat. We have all made mistakes in our lives, more or less big, but fortunately by being well surrounded, with also the experiences of my relatives I was able to weigh the pros and cons of it all. When you are young you think you need to test things, you stupidly think that you are going to get rich by selling drugs, you hide your face.
This is my experience, yet now what I want is to try to break these clichés. At home, there are not only bicraveurs, there are also artists, workers with higher education. Coming from an environment like that, it's hard to fit in because of the clichés that you get stuck on or even that you stuck to yourself. We must also say that in France we live under the weight of the past, the history of the colonies, etc. When we are immigrants or even an immigrant we live under the weight of the gaze of others, yet we are all French.
We all have something to say, the possibility of doing things well, we have to break these clichés.''