{"id":68896,"date":"2018-08-02T13:42:14","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T13:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?p=68896"},"modified":"2018-08-07T15:27:38","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T15:27:38","slug":"13-anne-lena-michel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/13-anne-lena-michel\/","title":{"rendered":"The candid photo series documenting a year in the life of a \u201900s teenager"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11856,139],"tags":[10914,2435,10915,10913],"class_list":["post-68896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sleek-art","category-art","tag-anne-lena-michel","tag-distanz","tag-sweet-13","tag-treize"],"acf":{"main_category":139,"legacy":false,"hero_title":"","subtitle":"Photographer Anne-Lena Michel spent a year au pairing in Paris, forming a sisterly bond with the 13-year-old in her care","hero":{"video":false,"image":false,"header_color":"black","overlay_color":"","overlay_text_color":"black"},"teasers":{"video":false,"image":false,"width":"4","proportion":"natural"},"related_articles":"","next_article":"","content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":false,"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"

No matter how self-assured and certain we might feel now, we were all 13 once. Riddled with anxiety, acne and hormone-induced angst, the topple into teenagehood is a time most of us would rather forget, and resign to realm of de-tagged photos in the depths of Facebook and that brace-ridden school pic on Grandma\u2019s dresser. That is, unless you\u2019re photographer <\/span>Anne-Lena Michel<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Born from the 2001 photographs she took on her year au-pairing in Paris, Michel\u2019s project <\/span>Treize <\/span><\/i>(or \u201c13\u201d in French) is a candid celebration of carefree youth and an ode to coming of age. Forgoing tantrums and train-tracks in favour of silliness and self-experimentation, Michel\u2019s nostalgic photographs centre around L\u00e9a, a bourgeois Parisian school girl (and certified diva), as she explores her personality through costume, make-up and, of course, drama. As she morphs from sassy beach babe to grieving widow, L\u00e9a embodies the playful nature of pre-pubescent performance, and reveals different parts of her own identity in the process. And while the resulting photographs are resoundingly fun, they\u2019re more than just a girl playing dress-up; they\u2019re a gentle reminder to take pride in the awkward teens we once were, because they\u2019ve shaped the people we\u2019ve become.<\/span><\/p>\n

In light of the photobook\u2019s release, we caught up with Michel to find out more about L\u00e9a and the magic of that formative year.<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":false,"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"

You went to Paris in 2001, when you were only 20 yourself, what drove you to do that?<\/i><\/p>\n

I\u2019d just graduated from school and it was clear to me that I wanted to spent some time abroad before starting my university studies. I was a curious and adventurous young woman, a francophile and very interested in photography, fashion, literature and music. Paris just appealed to me. I worked as an au pair to earn my living, studied french at the Sorbonne, spent a lot of time in museums and small cinemas and took a lot of photos.<\/p>\n

How did you find the family and the city?<\/i><\/p>\n

The family I worked with was a very open minded, educated and culturally interested one, so it was easy to feel comfortable with them. I instantly fell in love with the charming city, loaded with cultural and historical wealth, its overwhelming beauty and almost muesum-like vibe.<\/p>\n

And what about L\u00e9a, what was your relationship with her like?<\/i><\/p>\n

I felt almost like a big sister to L\u00e9a, as there were only seven years between us. When I rediscovered the images I took of her at that time, I was touched by the intimacy and trust one can feel between me \u2014 the photographer \u2014 and her. I felt it could have also been a close friend that portrayed L\u00e9a during that period.<\/p>\n

When did you first start photographing her?<\/i><\/p>\n

I photographed L\u00e9a throughout the whole year that I spent within her family. It started as a kind of game or free-time activity. We would use the clothes, cosmetics, accessories, etc., we found around the home, belonging to L\u00e9a, her mother, or me. L\u00e9a chose her own costumes and came up with the poses herself. Sometimes she simply wore her costumes without makeup; sometimes she\u2019d sit on a sofa in the living room, in heavy makeup. How old she looks in photographs depends on her facial expressions and gestures, which appear and then vanish in an instant.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":false,"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"

And was photography something that you were already doing, or already knew you wanted to do at this point?<\/i><\/p>\n

I already knew that I wanted to become a photographer at that time. At the age of 16 I started photographing with my father\u2019s old Asahi Pentax Spotmatic and developed the black and white films by myself, printing the photographs in the small laboratory my father had installed in my parents\u2019 cellar. In the beginning, I wanted to become a war photographer but throughout many years working with and thinking about photography, my interest within that medium has changed quite radically.<\/p>\n

The photographs in the book are very candid portrayals of femininity and experimentation. What kind of characters did L\u00e9a like to imitate most, and where were they coming from?<\/i><\/p>\n

I think there weren\u2019t any particular characters that L\u00e9a tried to imitate \u2014 the music that was popular at that time in France, like Alicia Keys, Mary J.Blige or MC Solaar, definitely had an influence on L\u00e9a\u2019s style-choices. She was a self-confident, funny girl that took the challenges of that early teenage age with humour. Also my interest in fashion photography at that time (I was a big Juergen Teller fan) and reading magazines like\u00a0i-D<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0THE FACE<\/em>\u00a0definitely contributed to the choice of her looks and aesthetics of the images that I took.<\/p>\n

What were you like at 13?<\/i><\/p>\n

I was a thoughtful grunge girl looking like a tall and skinny boy. I lived in a small village in southern Germany, was crazy about my two rabbits, read a lot and listened to Nirvana songs all day.<\/p>\n

Why do you think 13 is such a delicate age?<\/i><\/p>\n

13 is the initiation of your teenage years. At that age you start developing your own interests, questioning a lot of things and building your own character. A lot of physical and emotional transformation is taking place \u2013 and that causes a lot of insecurity but also releases enormous amounts of physical and mental energy. This radical body and mind development results in your future-adult, more or less mature personality. To me this \u201crevolutionary\u201d era in human life is very interesting.<\/p>\n

Are you still in touch with Lea and the family now?<\/i><\/p>\n

Absolutely. We\u2019re still in contact and whenever I\u2019m in Paris, I try to see L\u00e9a and her family.<\/p>\n

Treize is published by\u00a0DISTANZ<\/a>\u00a0and available to\u00a0purchase now<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery":false,"settings":{"height":"100","images_to_show":"1","caption":""}}]},"yoast_head":"\nThe candid photo series documenting a year in the life of a \u201900s teenager The candid photo series documenting a year in the life of a \u201900s teenager<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/13-anne-lena-michel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The candid photo series documenting a year in the life of a \u201900s teenager The candid photo series documenting a year in the life of a \u201900s teenager\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/13-anne-lena-michel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sleek Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sleekmag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-02T13:42:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-08-07T15:27:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sleekmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sleekmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Verfasst von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sleek\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sleek Magazine\",\"description\":\"Sleek is Germany\u2019s leading independent media house\/brand for creativity and innovation located in Berlin the creative capital of the world. 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