Ero One presents Paradigme

Now that the Northern Hemisphere is properly snow covered, we found it a good time to revisit Ero One's new film, "Paradigme". Released this past October along with a photo book, the film lends an intimate look at the Alps and takes you on a local's cruise of some damn fine powder. A version of this interview originally appeared in Issue 16.1

Hi Thierry, first of all, tell us how the EroOne Paradigme project got started?
(Thierry Sermier, photographer) In talking with Julien Roserens, filmmaker for EroOne and WhatWeWant films for a couple of years, he expressed how he wanted to do something different than just a video with rider's parts. We decided to start this nice challenge - Paradigme - a documentary DVD that includes a book of photographs from the project. With this project, we show our vision of a small snowboarder crew in our Alps: le Valais! Much better than an Office of Tourism movie, Paradigme enables you, by following a French-speaking Swiss Snowboard crew, to travel the Valais Alps and it's snowy mountain summits.

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You've got a killer lineup of riders that many people might have never heard of? How did you go about this group of people?
That was the point of our project! It's more and more difficult these days to be in a big movie production. If u don’t already have a big name and good sponsors who pay for you, nobody will see you even if u rock! As Paradigme shows, it's all about the spirit, not the name. Julien compiled a small crew rider, some known, and others no so much, who come from backcountry, freeride or competition background and we mixed them all together. 

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Why a print book and not a web gallery? Didn't you hear print is dead!
Ha, yes I've heard about that! Man, aren't there enough web galleries?! Honestly, I still don’t know if I’m crazy editing this book! I think in this digital world, where the print dies slowly, we have to try to do it differently. Today, everybody is a photographer. Everybody has 100,000 pictures on their computer without printing out any of them. Some magazines are produced only on the web, and the paper magazines are published maybe three to four times a year. I think that the digital will kill the digital… As a photographer, paper remains the best platform! For sure it is harder to make it happen: you need more money to print it, more energy to find a publishing house, more walls to break up and you won’t become rich from it. But at the end of the war, when you have the book in your hands, it's a nice part of the story. Whatever the price, print won’t die!

How many pages is the book? Will there be any text included? If so what language will it be in?
The book has 144 pages with some a text taken from the riders’ interviews. It will be in French and English.

 

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What other guest artists or photographers have you invited along?
We asked a bunch of photographers to become part of the project but it was hard to have all of them, especially because of the busy season. After all, I have the pleasure of welcoming Julien Perly, Tero Repo, Ahriel Povich and François Marlcay in the book. And to stay in the family, for the graphic design and layout, I asked Swiss artist Nicko Constantin to join in this adventure. www.nicko.ch

 

When and where will Paradigme and the accompanying book be available for purchase?
If everything goes well, everything will be available at the end of October in shops and online bookstores. Keep an eye on our website and MethodMag.com for the link! www.paradigme-le-doc.com

 

Have fun watching the movie and be sure this photobook makes for a sweet addition to your non-existing book shelve.