Anabel is fierce. She’s French. She’s fabulous. We had the pleasure of talking with her while her daughter June kept busy playing with Anabel’s own camera (she’s a professional photographer) in the incredible photogenic town of Avignon in Southern France.
The late afternoon light is slowly painting everything pinkish-gold in the ancient fortified city of Avignon in southern France. Sitting on a terrace just steps from a centuries-old church, we talk with Anabel about her life in France as a photographer and single mother.
“I never really thought thought about what life would be like at 40 when I was younger…when I was 25 I looked ahead and was happy I was starting out in my career – I had just started to really make money and was on my own. It was good, I could travel, explore places and see things,” she says. One of her first assignments as a press agent photographer was to go to China for a piece on one of the country’s wine regions near the Great Wall. “I went for two months – one month to work, one month to travel through southern China on my own…I loved it.”
Over the course of her career, Anabel has worked for three different press agencies. Her longest stint was 10 years with Gamma Press and then working for a different agency specializing in people and politics. She has shot numerous regional events such as the large Festival de Avignon and the Contemporary Art Fair in Paris. “I studied cinema and photography in university and liked it; my first work was with a little club in the university shooting photos for events.” After that I started taking pictures – my first work was with a little club in the school shooting photos, after that I was an assistant on a small town for the Opera – after that I started with the Avignon Festival.” She’s moved on to even larger shoots, including positions as an official photographer on major motion picture shoots and the Cannes Film Festival.
…We go on to learn more, including details on her assignment as a photographer for a private detective trying to uncover some infidelity!
Africa