Francois Prost – Författare

A photographic journey into french nightclub facades.

The aim of the book is to encourage discussion among experts on De ira, a text of philosophical nature, by reading it page by page, from a philosophical, philological, and literary perspective (a multidisciplinary choice which is the conditio sine qua non of all judicious research on Seneca). Moreover, the way in which each of these close readings is conducted adds an additional value: they each deal with a section of the text, presenting all the data necessary for its understanding. All together, they cover the whole work. Each of them is also an attempt at a global interpretation of the treatise, examined through the particular framing of the textual passage around which the “Lectures plurielles” are conceived. Around this “polyphonic” analysis of the text, we have built a structure that aims to offer the reader a complete reference work on all the issues of the De ira. Sources, manuscript tradition, images, political and philosophical concepts, posterity – in short, all the aspects that a traditional commentary of the text would not have allowed us to distinguish so clearly – find their place here. This book is therefore aimed at specialists as well as students or anyone interested in the thought of emotions in antiquity.

LOVE HOTEL is a collection of photographs showing Japanese Love Hotels facades. The project was produced in 2023 during a road trip between Tokyo and Shikoku Island. Photographer François Prost paints a vernacular portrait of Japan, made up of ordinary roadsides, faded signs and colorful facades, far from the usual clichés.

Camping Flash offers a direct and uncompromising portrait of the world of camping inFrance. A true champion in this field, the country alone accounts for nearlya third of all camping spots in Europe — a record that reflects how deeplythis mode of vacation is rooted in the national culture. Behind the half-open doors ofcaravans and motorhomes unfolds a way of life that is at once ordinary and fascinating,marked by joyful proximity, shared rituals, and a celebrated simplicity. Here, people livein T-shirts or swimsuits, sleep just a few meters from their neighbors, cook lunch facingthem, and meet again in the evening at the washrooms — toothbrush in hand, flip-flopson their feet. Long regarded as a modest pastime, camping remains today one of the lastspaces where a form of sociability is experienced in both its simplest and most intenseform: closeness, life outdoors, daily rituals. And despite the evolution of facilities, in-creasing comfort, and the rise of permanent structures, the spirit of camping in Francehas ultimately changed very little. What endures is an atmosphere of humor, lightness,and small details that reveal a distinctly French summer culture. Since 2022, I havebeen traveling across France to photograph campers framed in the doorway of theircaravans or motorhomes, while also capturing the ambiences and details that embo-dy this unique culture — one that takes me back to my own childhood holidays.

Club Ivoire gathers a collection of photographs of Ivorian nightclubs facades, made in 2023in the regions of Abidjan and Yamoussoukro. These places are shown here in a neutral way,in daylight, without artifices and crowds specific to their night activity, drawing up an objective report on the local club culture and its codes but also on the Ivorian landscapeof today. The series thus offers a contemporary and singular look at this West African country and the overflowing energy of its urban jungles. The project includes severalhundred images and is the continuation of identical projects previously realized on the fronts of festive places in France, Spain and the USA (After Party realized between2011 and 2018 in France, Gentlemen’s Club realized in 2019 in the USA, and Discoteca realized 2020 in Spain).

In 2019, François Prost went on a roadtrip across America. But Instead of visiting national parks or exploring major cities, he chose to take his camera along the strip club circuit, from Miami to Los Angeles, in broad daylight. The resulting series, Gentlemen’s Club, takes a close look at American culture and urbanism. Taken from a medium distance, these 200 photos highlight the austere geometry of American roadside architecture, as well as dominant views on gender and sexuality. This work follows in the footsteps of the same author’s After Party series, which compiles hundreds of images of nightclub façades in daylight across France. Many people thought at the time that these images had been taken in the USA (most of these nightclubs drew their architectural and stylistic references from post-war American pop culture). So it was quite natural that the photographer turned to the United States to continue this work.THE AUTHORFrançois Prost is a parisian photographer and art director born in Lyon in 1980. When he’s not working for editorial or commercial clients, he spends his time on personal photography projects, documenting facades of local french nightclubs, machine gun shops in the US, chinese scooters, or similarities between european cities and their chinese replicas.

A photographic journey into french nightclub facades.