Meet Xavier Derégel | Web consultant, graphic and photographic designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Xavier Derégel and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Xavier, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My vision of the world is simple: I don’t identify with today’s society. Our world is overrun by violence, corruption, and environmental destruction – consequences of historical decisions that have created situations that are now uncontrollable.
Although I’m fatalistic about my ability to change things, I’ve chosen to focus on the beauty of our universe. Through my art, I seek to capture and share the visual poetry of our environment. As a miracle.
I suddenly lost my father when I was not yet 3 years old. I have no memory of him, but since then, I’ve missed him. Every day. I am resilient. It’s from my flaws that I draw my strength. I have developed an ability to live and succeed despite adversity. Wounded in soul, I have transformed my suffering into a rage to live.
I long tried to follow the conventional path, to find a “normal job” like everyone else. But I eventually understood that this model, designed for the majority, didn’t suit me. I refuse to spend my days enriching the capitalist system or a boss who’s more cunning than others. I also don’t want to merely survive day-to-day waiting for a hypothetical retirement to finally “enjoy life”, as I too often see around me.
As “memento mori” reminds us, each moment lived is final – there’s no “ctrl+z” in life like on our computers. I live by the principle “1 life, live it”: life is now, here, and I refuse to waste it hoping to live later. I want to live it fully, every day, without regrets – I’ve had enough of those already.
My journey shows this: I started my first business at 23, already a father to a lovely daughter. Ten years later, with two beautiful sons and increased family responsibilities, I tried to adapt to a “real job.” Without success. My path is freedom, and each of my actions aims to preserve it.
Widowed and divorced, today I spend most of my time on my boat moored on the Seine near Paris, I have 3 beautiful and healthy children, I live with an incredible partner, a very pretty blonde with blue eyes. The love of my life. With these principles, I nurture my passion for photography every day, and several other projects close to my heart that will come to life this year. I believe I am happy.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am Xavier, a graphic and photographic designer. Photography is my life. My photography credo? The camera doesn’t make the photographer. On www.belles-photos.net, I publish beautiful film and digital photos, regardless of the equipment used. My vision is cross-cutting. I decide on a subject, monitor the lighting, select a viewpoint, compose. And shoot. I’ve been taking photos since 1979. My mother couldn’t have known that by offering me that Rollei XF 35 when I was 12, she would trigger a lifelong passion. I offer advice tested through 40 years of practice (not daily of course, but for quite a long time nonetheless). And I help my visitors to (re)awaken the photographer sleeping within them.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend came to visit me, I’d tell him we should go to San Francisco. We’d rent camping gear by the beach near the Golden Gate Bridge, rent an American car, and hit the endless straight roads of the United States. With a Spotify playlist on our Apple CarPlay. We’d drive through landscapes from Lucky Luke and Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, and we’d stop to sleep near Lake Powell where the first “Planet of the Apes” movie was filmed. We’d take Route 66, go to the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley after doing a long trail at Bryce Canyon. I’d take him to see the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, then we’d spend a moment at Columbo’s (aka Peter Falk) and Marilyn Monroe’s graves at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. We’d make a detour to the Beverly Hills Hotel to take the same photo as the Eagles’ Hotel California album cover. We’d sleep in an Airbnb to say hi to Hank Moody at Venice Beach. Of course, we would have stopped in Las Vegas, just to say we did (because fountains in the desert is pretty outrageous), and we’d head back up to San Francisco via the “big one,” crossing through Malibu, Santa Monica, and Santa Barbara.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The photographer I admire most is Raymond Depardon (french photographer). He’s kind of my mentor. In his way of photographing, I discovered a particular perception of light, and especially, a sharp vision of photographic framing. As a graphic designer, I appreciated Raymond Depardon’s framing because he manages to create a work of art in each of his photographic compositions. Then, I had the chance to meet Prof. Sandhaus in Lausanne, Switzerland, one of my clients in the 2000s, who taught me a mindset and passed on this mantra: “be your own master”. I use it as an inheritance. Being your own master means believing in yourself, experiencing things firsthand, and forging your own knowledge and vision of life through an unquenchable thirst for learning by all means: exhibitions, books, encounters, and now, the Internet.

Website: https://6×6.photo/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/6×6.photo/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xavierderegel/

Twitter: https://x.com/Photo6x6

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/6×6.photos

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Belles-Photos/videos

Other: https://www.belles-photos.net/

Image Credits
© Xavier Derégel