French photographer Adrien Lacheré's photos of gun-wielding young French men and the neighbourhoods they live in mirror the real life attitude of the film La Haine. The two line up pretty well – not only because of monochrome photography, but also considering how everything is shot – from the setting, the subjects, and their actions. The soft grittiness of Adrien's work shows a side to these French neighbourhoods that rarely is presented in such a stunning way. What makes it even more interesting is the fact that this is real.
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Adrien, who was born in the north of France, kindly declined to tell me where specifically these photos have been shot. But he did tell me that his hometown goes under the nickname "Hell City", which makes his work even more fascinating. He currently lives in Thailand and has been keeping himself busy with other things, but we caught up and chatted about his previous work anyway.
VICE: What got you into photography? When did you start shooting photos?
Adrien Lacheré: I started shooting about five years ago. I was really dedicated to boxing at a young age, but when a physical problem occurred, I was forced to stop fighting. After that happened, I had nothing to do and I really used to hate my hometown, so I took on photography to make it more fun.How would you describe the photos you take of people? Would you consider most of your subjects to be thugs or even gang members?
They're definitely not gang members. Thugs, yeah. These photos were shot in France. Gang life is Hollywood-shit to us. A guy talked to me about his vision of life when I shot him, and he told me that his ambition is to fight with as many people as he can. Every day, all he wants to do is to fight; he doesn't want a Hollywood story, and his life isn't a Hollywood story. You can call these photos cold. I am currently done with shooting photos of this kind, anyways.I think there's an intimate view with these photos. Are you on personal relationship or friendship level with the people you shoot?
All of these photos were shot in my hometown, so taking them all came very natural to me. All of these people have been a part of my life in some way, bad or good, and most of them I consider great friends. Either way, I still would have been in all the same situations with them even if I didn't have a camera.
Adrien Lacheré: I started shooting about five years ago. I was really dedicated to boxing at a young age, but when a physical problem occurred, I was forced to stop fighting. After that happened, I had nothing to do and I really used to hate my hometown, so I took on photography to make it more fun.How would you describe the photos you take of people? Would you consider most of your subjects to be thugs or even gang members?
They're definitely not gang members. Thugs, yeah. These photos were shot in France. Gang life is Hollywood-shit to us. A guy talked to me about his vision of life when I shot him, and he told me that his ambition is to fight with as many people as he can. Every day, all he wants to do is to fight; he doesn't want a Hollywood story, and his life isn't a Hollywood story. You can call these photos cold. I am currently done with shooting photos of this kind, anyways.I think there's an intimate view with these photos. Are you on personal relationship or friendship level with the people you shoot?
All of these photos were shot in my hometown, so taking them all came very natural to me. All of these people have been a part of my life in some way, bad or good, and most of them I consider great friends. Either way, I still would have been in all the same situations with them even if I didn't have a camera.
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There's one guy you tend to photograph more, who shows up in a good portion of these photographs. He seems to be of importance to you and a main focal point of the series, what's his story? How do you know him?
With the group of guys I was photographing, he was the one that everybody followed and listened to. He was a smart guy with an angry mentality, which led to his life having a lot of ups and downs. The photo I took of him with his little brother on the car was one of the last pictures I took of him; at that point he was calming down his dangerous lifestyle. He was definitely the kind of guy where something bad or good could happen at any moment.You said earlier that you're done with shooting these types of photos, why's that?
Those moments used to be a part of my life but they're not anymore. I'm pretty sure that I will do another project similar to this one sooner or later, but in a different country maybe, and in colour.Well you live in Thailand now? Why did you move there? Is that more of a suitable option for your photography?
Yeah, it just feels good here and there's no winter. But I'm actually travelling outside of Thailand pretty often for photography.Are there any new projects you're working on?
I'm currently working on editorial content and brand lookbooks.Awesome, Thanks Adrien!See more of Adrien's work here or follow him on Twitter.Follow Sameet on Twitter: @SFTLLTR
With the group of guys I was photographing, he was the one that everybody followed and listened to. He was a smart guy with an angry mentality, which led to his life having a lot of ups and downs. The photo I took of him with his little brother on the car was one of the last pictures I took of him; at that point he was calming down his dangerous lifestyle. He was definitely the kind of guy where something bad or good could happen at any moment.You said earlier that you're done with shooting these types of photos, why's that?
Those moments used to be a part of my life but they're not anymore. I'm pretty sure that I will do another project similar to this one sooner or later, but in a different country maybe, and in colour.Well you live in Thailand now? Why did you move there? Is that more of a suitable option for your photography?
Yeah, it just feels good here and there's no winter. But I'm actually travelling outside of Thailand pretty often for photography.Are there any new projects you're working on?
I'm currently working on editorial content and brand lookbooks.Awesome, Thanks Adrien!See more of Adrien's work here or follow him on Twitter.Follow Sameet on Twitter: @SFTLLTR
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