Angels: Collected

When I left Geneva, Switzerland, I was pretty much certain I was leaving behind the most diverse city in the world. It’s small but home to the World Everything – the WEF, the WHO, the WTO – and almost half of the population is from some other part of the world. So I grew up in this abundance of cultures and, without being conscious of it, I was becoming sensitive to this singularity in people. In 2013, I touched down in Los Angeles. This unfamiliar urban landscape immediately appealed to me, but what was becoming increasingly interesting was the diversity of people which was even richer in terms of socio-economical backgrounds than Geneva.

Through its typological and objective approach, this body of work not only highlights the commonality of human beings but also the specific features of a particular individual. I meet my subjects in their place of choice and allow them to express themselves through their gesture and use of space. I have taken 93 portraits between 2014 and 2016 when a divisive president took office and unfortunately brought the project to a halt. I hope to finish it someday.