by Arnaud | Nov 23, 2014 | People Pics
” That woman came to my place the other day, he husband just had passed away and she wanted a tattoo to continue her life with him, this was weird but I was honored. For me tattooing is like creating art pieces that will stay for ever, or almost, art pieces that travel, move, unlike a painting on a wall for ever.”
Marama is a world famous tattooer. I was told by a customer in the waiting room that people come from all over the world to get tattooed by Marama, like Rihanna. But Marama is happy with his simple life, just one employee and this tiny cabin on the beach for office, he does not want a web site nor meet with the customers in their five star hotels on the lagoon, here in bora Bora. Marama is tattooed on only the left half of his body, he does not like chaos.
by Arnaud | Nov 21, 2014 | People Pics
“I have two daughters, the first one is Kinimai (look for me ) and the second one’s name is Kawaiki, the flowing river. We gave her that name as we were living in a bamboo house near a river that we could hear flowing, this was very peacefull. I am a lucky man, every morning I pass by the school with the boat where my wife is a teacher, and she makes me signs like “go away, do not provoke me with your freedom.”
Shaq has been living in Bora Bora for fourteen years now. He is a tourist guide, he shows the tourists the bests snorkeling spots of the lagoon, dances with the rays and swims with the lemon sharks outside the coral reef. Shaq and his wife (from Switzerland) have a dream, go to the USA,; they have booked their trip for 2015, fifteen full days in Las Vegas…
by Arnaud | Nov 19, 2014 | People Pics
” I work in this five star hotel and I carry the luggages from the boat to the reception then to the rooms of the customers coming from all over the world. I also prepare the towels every morning on the beach, and I am in charge of the masks and fins our customers use to snorkel around our small Motu island.”
Why did you decide to work in this hotel? “I was working in the mountains all day long with my brother, climbing in the coconut trees to get the coconuts and extract the copra, this was very hard work. With copra we manufacture here in French Polynesia, coconut oil for eating or for cosmetic industry.”
Samy is a very friendly polynesian I met on a small private island in the lagoon of Bora Bora. Samy is happy not to work in the plantations anymore, his life is easier, obviously less exciting…
by Arnaud | Nov 17, 2014 | People Pics
” I lived with my family her in Tahiti when I was four years old, then we went back to France, my Dad was working for a construction company. As an adult I decided to go to Papeete for several weeks, I stayed there eleven years, but working here was not easy, my boss did not help me to be promoted as he initially promised, and then this woman was harassing me, I was in love with her, that did not work out; I went back to “la Metropole.”
When I asked Samuel why he was coming back to French Polynesia, he showed me his flip-flops and said “for that!’. He was smiling but seemed a little bit wistful, with high expectations about this new life on these islands in the middle of the Pacific ocean.
by Arnaud | Nov 15, 2014 | French in the USA, People Pics
“I have always dreamed of adventure, I have always wanted to come to the USA, and Texas was the image I had of that country, the cowboys…people are cool here, there are relaxed, in the USA no ones judges you on your appearance nor the way you are dressed, unlike in Europe. Every year at Christmas I put the Rodolphe’s Red Nosed Reindeer horns on my huge Ford, and people like it! I am pretty sure that in my previous life I was an American, born and raised in Texas. ”
Chantal is a french mother of five kids, she is full of kindness and generosity, always so optimistic. Chantal’s dream is also to travel all around the world, not knowing where she would be going the day after.
by Arnaud | Nov 12, 2014 | French in the USA, People Pics
” I hope that people visiting the exhibition will be sensitive to “the story” we are trying to tell them, that they will be feeling emotions while discovering the variety of the creations we are presenting to tell that story. This is the story of “Art in Motion”, full of speed and modernity over the ages. Art is like a big balloon, full of emotion like the one this little girl shared with us while visiting the gallery today with her Mom; she had a candide look, and seemed to be full of admiration watching the creations of Calder, Miro, Spelletich, Elliott, Snelling…”
Why did you decide to come to San Francisco to open your art gallery? “SF is a city continuously reinventing itself, everything here is simpler, free. San Francisco is a city always in motion”.
Jules generously shared with me these last weeks the great opportunity to put images on the conception of his gallery and the preparation of the exhibition he will be showing tomorrow. Just like the exhibition’s creations, Jules is a masterpiece, always “in motion.”
