TALENT
Fabrice Fournier
Alias FIFOU
Fabrice Fournier, aka Fifou, grew up in Chelles, Seine-et-Marne. Born in 1982, lives and works in Paris.
As early as his studies, he excelled at drawing and dreamed of becoming an illustrator and cartoonist.
At the age of 14, he discovered rap and became particularly fascinated by the American gangsta scene.
This passion led him to embark on an early career: during his high school years, he became editor-in-chief and art director of the Fanzine Replik, and signed his first logos, flyers and covers.
After obtaining his baccalauréat in 1999, he entered the Ens Aama Olivier de Serres where he specialized in visual communications.
While discovering DTP, graphic design and publishing, he continued to work in the rap world. He designed the cover of a mixtape for L'Arcane, a group of 7 rappers including Kheiron and Navo, future creators of the BREF series (Canal+). He also worked for various specialized hip-hop magazines, including Radikal, where he did his final internship. In 2002, with his BTS diploma under his belt, he set out on his own as a freelance art director, working for Princesse Aniès on the illustration and logo for the album Conte de faits, which marked the beginning of a long-term collaboration between the two artists.
Hard-working, talented, outgoing, responsive and inexpensive, Fifou quickly made a name for himself on the Parisian rap scene, and multiplied photo shoots. He is also one of the few photographers to venture into the housing estates of Ile-de-France, where he has built up a solid address book and an abundant image bank.
In 2005, through Joey Starr, he met a photographer and director who would play a decisive role in his career: Christophe Gstalder. The two artists soon formed a duo: Christophe Gstalder did the photo shoots, Fifou the art direction and image retouching.
Together, they worked with Renaud, Manu Tchao and Amadou et Mariam. Above all, in 2005 they designed the cover of the French rap compilation Illicite projet, which was a resounding success. However, Christophe Gstalder decided to move to Costa Rica. Deprived of a photographer, Fifou took up the torch with a digital camera in hand, photographing all the representatives of the rap scene: Kool Shen, Doc Gyneco, Stomy Bugsy, Akhenaton, le 113...
At the same time, he worked as a layout artist for two media: The Source and Tracklist. This experience enabled him to meet Chino. With Chino, a journalist specializing in hip-hop music, he set up the Fish High collective and made numerous trips to the United States to meet up with the rap scene in New York and Los Angeles. At the same time, he continues to shoot in France, with Booba, La Fouine, Guizmo and Rim'K. By 2010, he had already signed over 500 album covers.
In 2012, Youssoupha asked him to design the cover for his third album. Without having a precise idea, the rapper was sure of one thing: he didn't want to appear on it. For Fifou, this new constraint was an unhoped-for opportunity to break away from the visual codes of rap. He came up with a sober, elegant visual featuring a black angel on a white background. The album was a huge success and marked a turning point in the photographer's career: from now on, he would be able to allow himself a certain audacity and conceive his covers as so many “visual punchlines”. The experience also marked his gallery debut, as photographs from the shoot were exhibited at Brugier-Rigail (Paris).
Until 2020, Fifou enjoyed a golden age: as rap became a popular form of “urban pop”, production budgets exploded, allowing him to implement his most original ideas. The covers he signed for PNL, Alkpote, Aya Nakamura and Gims were marvels of inventiveness, with references to classical painting, architecture, David LaChapelle's photography and cinema. At the time, Fifou was also learning silver photography, which enabled him to refine his renderings and gain in authenticity.
In 2022, the anniversary of his 20-year collaboration with the rap scene invites the photographer to take stock of his already long career. The event was marked by the publication of a book, Archives (éditions Clique) and a series of exhibitions: Fifou x Hartcourt at the Harcourt studio (Paris) and TUNNEL, conceived in collaboration with British photographer Ciesay. Fifou is now turning his attention to the art world, but also to fashion photography, which he would like to “encanailler”, in his own words.
