Romain Berger is queer artist living in France who introduced us to his gently provocative photographic universe some time ago! YASS has been a fan of Romain’s work from the very first beginning, when we introduced him to our audience here . Romain’s work focuses on representing and highlighting the LGBTQ+ community, which is often excluded and left aside, while at the same time, challenges the current stereotypes and blurs the lines between provocative, cliché, kitsch and playful.

How has your life changed since the last time we interviewed you?

A lot has happened in my professional life since the last interview. My first photo book, published by Men On paper art and entitled “Life’s a cabaret”, was released in England and sold in several international bookshops. I was also lucky enough to take part in the 2022 edition of the book SEX UTOPIA published by MyGayeyes, alongside Pierre et Gilles, and to hold 16 exhibitions in Berlin, Brighton, Geneva, Amsterdam, Zurich, Barcelona and Paris.

How has your work and your style as an artist evolved?

My work has evolved in the sense that I’m less smooth and gentle than I used to be. Last summer, I started a series called Furious. It’s a more sexual, trashy and raw series. Right now I’m going back to my original style, but I’m keeping the Furious series in mind so I can mix the two. As you get older and see the society around you, you don’t want to be smooth and nice anymore.

You have published your first photo book, LIFE’S A CABARET in UK which brings together all your photographs since 2018. Please talk to me about that. How did that happen?

I discovered the publisher Men On paper art on instagram in January 2022. We started emailing and he liked my work. It was a natural fit. The preparation time then took a few months and the book came out in September 2022. A few copies were even sold at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, a point of pride.

In 2018, ‘SEX UTOPIA’, an impressive 400-page book featuring 70 artists from all over the world, was published in Germany, and you were featured alongside Pierre et Gilles and director/photographer Bruce La Bruce. How do you feel about that?

I was very happy to be part of this book, which has a great reputation. It’s true that my work is very different from what these editions usually present. Although we’re very different, I’m often compared to Pierre and Gilles, as if our work were similar. But we have nothing in common. Our colors, our themes, they’re all very different. I think sometimes people make it easier. So it was fun to find myself in an edition alongside them.

Do you feel recognized as an artist now that a lot of your work has already been exhibited in Canada, Switzerland, France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and at the famous Schwules Museum in Berlin?

What’s changed for me is that I’ve come to realize that I’m a real artist. I’ve worked hard to get what I’ve got and I’m proud of it. Unfortunately, I don’t feel 100% recognized. I have a real problem with France, which ignores me and considers my work too vulgar. My country is the one that has published the least about me in magazines and exhibited the least in galleries. I really can’t find my place in France and I’m not really considered for my work. It’s totally different abroad. In Germany, for example, I feel recognized.

Talk to us about your solo exhibition ‘All You Need Is Love’. What was this exhibition about? How did the audience react?

All you need is love featured 35 photographs from my work since 2018. It was my biggest exhibition since I started. The idea was to show love, but also the fact that people still have to hide sometimes to be themselves. I wanted the public to look at the exhibition and say to themselves that we should all love each other without judgment. The public was very receptive. At the opening of the last exhibition in France, I received many comments. The one that touched me the most was that of a father who had come without his daughter and who regretted it. He had tears in his eyes and told me he wished his daughter could have been there to see all the love. He had a 16-year-old trans daughter. This father’s love for his family and his open-mindedness really touched me.

What is the best comment you have received?

Several times, people came up to me on social media to thank me for what I was doing for the community. This is something quite surprising for me who does not frequent the LGBT+ community. There are men over 50 who say thank you because thanks to my work they have managed to accept themselves and embrace their homosexuality. A young man, after a photo session with me, managed to accept his homosexuality. He thanked me and told me that this session had changed his life. We don’t feel like we have an impact on others.

What is your biggest achievement?

My greatest achievement is to have gained confidence in myself, to have discovered who I really am and to be proud of what I achieve with my work. My greatest success is more personal than professional, but one can’t go without the other.

What is the art scene like in France at the moment?

On the one hand, the French art scene is being enriched by artists such as singers Eddy de Pretto, Pomme, Hoshi and Kalika. But when it comes to visual art, it’s more complicated. I don’t see any great evolution, and I have the impression that galleries are still showing the same things. Things are happening, there’s a desire to exhibit, to go beyond the limits, to try new things BUT it’s not moving forward because society is pushing us back. I don’t think France is the best place to create new art or art that breaks with the norm.

What are you working on now and what are your future plans?

I have several new creations in the pipeline that I hope to complete soon. I’m also in talks with several drag artists from the French Ru Paul Drag Race franchise about a new photo.
I have an exhibition being organized for Rome in 2024. It will probably be in June (date to be confirmed). This year’s tour took so much energy that I didn’t want to tour again next year. What I’d really like to do next is shoot for brands in my artistic universe.