On Dreams, Artificial Intelligence, and Photographic Responsibility
Nylon Japan
In Conversation With Gil Anselmi
July 5th, 2023
By Anna Prudhomme @annaprudhomme
Creating surrealist worlds of hyper-femininity and fabulous fakeness, Gil Anselmi is definitely a photographer on the rise. Already establishing herself as part of the visual zeitgeist, Gil has shot for magazines such as L’Officiel, Nylon Japan, and King Kong, and has just published a series made in collaboration with make-up artist Lisa Michalik on Dazed Beauty.
A prodigy in the field, this French photographer started working at only 19 years old and has a dream to make films with her very unique aesthetic. Always on the look for emerging talent, we sent writer Anna Prudhomme to meet the now 25-year-old photographer to chat about dreams, AI, and politicised photography.
Editorial for L’Officiel - Models both wearing Miu Miu
Anna Prudhomme: Hi Gil, could you begin by talking about yourself and how you got introduced to photography?
Gil Anselmi: Ok so what can I say…I'm a Taurus and Tauruses don't give up much. I’m a pretty stubborn person, when I have an idea in my head, it's usually very difficult to get me to change it. But at the same time, that's what made me lucky in life, in the sense that I know what I want and I put all my energy into getting it. I entered Les Gobelins [Photography school] at the age of 17, then quickly moved into the professional world. I did my first advertising campaign aged 19 for Patricia Blanchet, a shoe brand.
Then in my second year, I did my first editorial for Just Magazine. That's when I knew I wanted to do fashion editorials to create new worlds. For that project my idea was to reproduce a garden in a studio even though I had absolutely no budget but, as I said, I'm very stubborn so when I have an idea I do everything for it to work.
I called in an artist and borrowed a huge wall painted with a blue sky and clouds. I wanted to put flowers on the ground, but I needed a lot of them. So, in the middle of the night, a friend and I went to steal the flowers from the town hall in the first arrondissement… I send you kisses, thanks a lot. [She laughs] So that's how I did my first shoot.
King Kong Magazine - The Fame Issue
AP: And was fashion an obvious direction for you to take?
GA: I've always been somewhat immersed in this world. My father was an art director for several magazines and my mother was a costume designer, doing mostly period pieces for films or ads. But, as a result, I inherited her love for beautiful vintage pieces.
Photography came more or less naturally to me, but I wouldn't say it is my primary medium. I'm interested in it as a means of creating worlds, expressing myself, and having a say in art direction - but I went to Les Gobelins, because I wanted to direct films.
AP: What is your artistic process?
GA: I’m all about creating atmospheres from A to Z. I'm not a photographer that captures the instant. I design and draw everything I'm going to shoot in advance. I see the studio space as a blank page. I have very precise ideas in mind, whether for the pose, the model, or the style of the image. And that helps everyone: a set designer knows exactly what he's bringing in, what's going to be visible in the photo. I even know the framing in advance. For example, a stylist will know if it's a full look or not, that sort of thing. Then when I'm drawing, I do a lot of colour charts too, because I want the colours to match each other, and so on.
“I'm not a photographer that captures the instant. I design and draw everything I'm going to shoot in advance.”
Personal Project
AP: How would you describe your aesthetic?
GA: It's hard for me to say, I think I'm constantly evolving and I try not to be put into one category too much. I also quickly realised that the adjectives that were placed on my work were external adjectives that I hadn't particularly chosen. For example, the word kitsch is starting to get unbearable.
For a long time, I thought my aesthetic was American because of the TV shows and films I was watching. But I've put aside a culture that, in my opinion, is totally my own. I'm 50% Italian. And the more I started traveling to Italy, the more I realised that my kitsch aesthetic was somehow Italian. Now, I really want to work with houses such as Gucci, Versace, or Moschino.
Then I'd also say that there's a whole body of work around surrealism, something very colourful and dreamlike. But the thing is, it's hard for me to talk about that because I feel I'm so far away from what I'd like to do, so it's more a question of goals I have in my head.
“The word kitsch is starting to get unbearable.”
King Kong Magazine - The Holy Trinity
AP: How did this dreamlike and surrealist aesthetic come about?
GA: It's a bit strange, but I'd had a rather mystical experience, I found in my bedroom the book Life is Elsewhere by Milan Kundera lying on my bed. It wasn't me, my mother, or my brother who had put it there. It was impossible to know how it got there. Beyond the book, which I read and loved, this title spoke to me enormously.
I think photography is a way to be in a life that doesn't exist, something a bit magical. When I was little, I always thought I was going to get a letter from Hogwarts admitting me as a witch. I think I've always been looking for magic in life. It's a question of how you tell yourself things, how you appropriate situations, and how you live them. Photography is a way of making tangible what I feel and see, when in my head I sublimate certain moments.
“I think I've always been looking for magic in life.”
AP: Is that where post-production comes in?
GA: I love retouching, and it's something I want to push, whether it's in 3D or artificial intelligence. I can understand that artificial intelligence is scaring a lot of people at the moment, especially the idea that jobs can be replaced. But I think artists have been working with machines for a very long time.
If, in order to create an original idea, someone uses artificial intelligence as a tool, I find that very interesting. On the other hand, using image bases that aren't yours, or using work that already exists, I'm not ok with that. I think that is appropriation.
I have a series of AI photos I did with make-up artist Lisa Michalik that came out on Dazed Beauty recently. To make them I've used artificial intelligence, but only from my own images, and I mix them together. The result is other images that I can rework even further. The possibilities are endless.
Editorial for Meri
AP: And what do you think about the aesthetics of this artificial intelligence movement?
GA: There's something that interests me, whether it's artificial intelligence or 3D, because I like to dehumanise bodies. I like images that are highly retouched, almost flawless. I love retouching skins to the hilt, whether it's airy or painterly, like the work of Pierre and Gilles, for example. Their way of doing things is very artisanal: they take photos, make their decor beforehand, and then paint on the photo. This slightly dehumanised, dreamlike aesthetic can be totally rediscovered thanks to 3D or artificial intelligence.
“I like to dehumanise bodies. I like images that are highly retouched, almost flawless.”
AP: You talk about a dream aspect of your photography, what's your relationship with dreams?
GA: Ever since I was a little girl, I've had very long, detailed dreams, like two-and-a-half-hour films. I've always written down my dreams, and the more you try to remember them, the more you build up your unconscious to remember them the next day.
Making conscious dreams is something I've always tried to do, I’d love to be able to master my dreams. But it’s something I do in my photographic approach. Because there are a lot of images, ideas or situations that came to me through dreams. Then today, I’d also like to work more and more on nightmares and the different prisms of anxiety.
“I’d love to be able to master my dreams. But it’s something I do in my photographic approach.”
Shoot for Mia Vesper
AP: What about politics? Do you think it is something important in your fashion photography?
GA: I think you have to be very careful as a photographer because you're responsible for the images you convey. It would interest me to be able to really speak out because the interpretation of an image can make the viewer reflect or shed light on a cause. The more you promote inclusivity in images, the more these images circulate. Even if you only see them for 30 seconds on a social network, they're part of the collective unconscious.
“The more you promote inclusivity in images, the more these images circulate.”
I think we have to be very careful to promote the right clichés too. Putting the spotlight on people who wouldn't necessarily have been highlighted. I think my work has always been ultimately feminist, for the simple reason that I shoot almost exclusively women. But that's tricky, because, at the moment, I work a lot with models, so with specific body types. Eventually, though, I'd obviously like to be able to integrate all types of people into my aesthetic.
Politicising my work takes time, because I'm still young, and it's not always easy, but in time, I'd like to have the strength to do it. I think it's important.
AP: How do you see the future?
GA: I'd like to continue to create and compose with others. Do more and more editorial work but also videos for clips or brands. To be honest, my dream is to be a kind of Scorsese at 80 and keep making films until I die. I think that must give you a real zest for life... the old person's life that stays at home just isn't for me!
AP: Amazing, thanks so much for your time Gil!
About Gil Anselmi
Gil Anselmi is a Studio Photographer based in Paris, film and digital.