The art of observation
Photographer Michèle Bygodt focuses on giving a voice to the seemingly invisible.
What does it mean to capture a moment in time?
With cameras at our fingertips, it seems like almost every moment of our days is documented. Photographer Michèle Bygodt doesn’t just capture moments, she uses the camera lens as an extension of vision, observing and orchestrating moments.
Born in Libreville, Gabon, Bygodt grew up in multicultural environments as her father’s work led her to live in five countries around Africa and Europe. She got a BA in graphic design and sciences in Paris before moving to Vancouver, Canada where she finished BFA in photography from the Emily Carr School of Art+Design. Her background in design and interest in the Bauhaus movement informs her photography and the act of observation in her work. She aims to give a voice to what is typically bypassed or seemingly invisible.
With an impressive portfolio, Bygodt has worked in commercial photography as well as having projects of her own. Her latest project “Gnoul (Body)” completed in 2021, is a collection of photos presenting Blackness. Bygodt worked with model Nyalingat Latjor and makeup artist Iki Lee for this project that took on much more meaning than they initially expected.
From June 17 - July 9, 2022, The Bows presented “Gnoul: A Benefit Exhibition for the family of Latjor Tuel,” a Sudanese immigrant who was killed in an act of police violence in Calgary, Canada in February 2022. Model Nyalingat Latjor is his daughter.
Each photograph is haunting as Latjor contorts her body, only revealing what she wants the viewer to see. She was covered in black body paint to accentuate her Blackness in the black&white photographs, reminiscent of the South African photographer Zanele Muholi’s self-portraiture.
In a reflection of “Gnoul,” Sue-Shane Tsomondo writes, “Gnoul is a witnessing of what it means to be feared, desired, and deliberately misunderstood. I can recognize these photographs as representations of Blackness, despite knowing that being Black is far more complex—that we are more terrified than we are terrifying. The self-recognition that takes place when I look at these photos takes place through the lens of the white gaze and the lens of my own Blackness. That dual witnessing is the ultimate experience of Blackness for me.”
Please read Tsomondo’s entire reflection here.
The project also includes photos with other models that continue Bygodt’s motivation behind the series. She told The Gauntlet, “I got angry hearing people calling Black people “bodies.” A body is just a structure, a skeleton, so I don’t agree with people just using the term body to define someone else, because then it means you’re removing their humanity — we’re not just bodies.”
Check out Bygodt’s website here to explore some of her other collections. She is able to capture movement, nature, and portraiture with ease, each photo rooted in her mastery in the art of observation. Her voice is so clear in each photograph, it’s comforting to know that she is capturing what is really there, whether it’s a reflection in water or faux palm trees that disguise cellphone towers.
Follow Bygodt on Instagram @me_sh_ele to keep up with her living portfolio.