Photos by Davolo Steiner
A photographer out of the quiver
We won’t talk about this private banker who has been a successful private banker for more than 34 years at Bordier & Cie, who made him a Partner in 2011. We won’t talk about the analysis of financial market trends that he readily provides to the specialized media. Nor will we talk about his altruism to support an action with tortured women in East Africa. Yes, we will talk about this subject because it is from this scorned humanity that his first picture book will be born.
Life in black and white
Michel Juvet was born in Geneva in the Charmilles district to two Swiss parents. He studied economics and is easily imagined to be studious and discreet.
Discretion is undoubtedly one of the first qualities that one asks of a private banker to evolve over time. In photography, one must also be discreet to be hidden in a corner on the lookout for the moment not to be missed. It is to take one’s time, to advance delicately so as not to make the moment or one’s model disappear. However, the message transmitted can be powerful and without return. We will quote by pleasure some examples of message bearers by their images that have remained engraved in our memories.
Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson created the photojournalism agency Magnum in 1947, Raymond Depardon and Hubert Henrotte founded the Gamma agency in 1966. Photographers who put their lives in danger to bear witness to major events and leave a considerable photographic heritage. More recently, photographers such as Yann Arthus Bertrand and Sebastiao Salgado have used their photographic work to denounce the excesses of our consumer world, to change mentalities and even to push our political decision-makers to take measures that have an impact on our planet. Photography is serious!
London After Brexit – MPA Award 2016 1st place in the black and white category
Passion to express
He says he has always had a passion for photography but not necessarily the time to devote to it. Silver photography, he says, is a meticulous and fragile process, locking himself in a darkroom for hours to develop his images, he admits he is not a fan. It is with the arrival of digital photography and its instantaneousness that he will regain a taste for it. The desire to capture the moment and manage to sublimate it by seeing situations that the average passer-by will not see. It is on social networks that Michel Juvet often shares his moments in black and white, always attaching a humorous little legend, no doubt to apologize for having talent and not yet really assuming it.
Confirmed and rewarded work
“Même le ciel ne pleure plus” book published by Slatkine, which won the Literary Society Prize in 2012, is a collection of portraits of women in East Africa. Michel Juvet denounces the rapes and violence perpetrated with impunity on these women with no other choice than to suffer and survive. It is important to note that all proceeds from this book are redistributed to an association that works to support these women to regain their dignity: the Nturengaho association in Burundi.
La résurrection de Veremonda
In a completely different register his second book: “The Resurrection of Veremonda”. Originally a crazy bet between an Australian conductor, a Neapolitan director, a Turinese artist, and a renowned Roman costume designer: to bring a 17th century Venetian opera back to life after 400 years. Michel Juvet and the journalist Allison Zurfluh followed the entire creative process until the curtain came up on the show to bring a magnificent work. Recommended to all music, costume and opera lovers.
Winning photo among 4 others of the competition of the Museum of Art and History Geneva
Paleo Full-length Portraits
He won’t be able to say otherwise, it’s undoubtedly with his last book that he had the most fun. He had a great time, or at least he enjoyed those of the artists present at the Paléo festival in 2017. “Paléo Portraits en pied” are stage portraits of artists and their shoes, surprising snapshots from which emanate an overflowing energy with a touch of lightness. A winner of many awards who doesn’t take himself seriously and we love that. Find Michel Juvet’s photographs on social networks: