Lougé Delcy is an artist and entrepreneur, most commonly known as photographer and influencer under the name Dapper Lou (@dapperlou). We got to know each other on a couple of trips to the South of Italy, where he had been commissioned to capture effortless men’s style in the height of the summer heat.
In this interview, we discuss his early love for fashion, his street style debut and the close relationship and support he gets from his family, in particular his father, Jean. As the conversation progresses, I indulged in asking him about his fabulous shoot with Lauryn Hill, as well as an important trip to Kenya which marked a big transition in his life as an artist, or cultural storyteller.
Lou shares his passion about documenting the beauty and joy in life, whether in Brooklyn, Cuba or Morocco. A joy to listen to, as much as to discover.
Selected links from episode
You can connect with Lougè and his work at Dapperlou.com
And find him aswell on Instagram @Dapperlou
Dapper Lou’s interview with Hypebeast Radio
The campaign for Armani Exchange referenced red painted model
Dapper Lou and studio 2nd campaign for Christian Louboutin
Lou’s shoot with Lauryn Hill
Lou’s interview with The Africa Center (see quote above)
The charity Giants of Africa and founder Masai Ujiri
The Sautiku foundation by Dr Ama Obama
Lou’s interview with the Folkore on his transition from street style to cultural storytelling
https://www.dapperstudios.co/studio
The Smythsonian Exhibition “Men of Change” and the exhibition’s touring schedule
Lou’s first mural project in Brooklyn now live
and of course, you can find Dapper Lou’s prints on his website
Full episode transcript
Anne Muhlethaler:
Hi. Hello. Bonjour. This is Out Of The Clouds, a podcast at the crossroads between business and mindfulness, and I am your host Anne Muhlethaler. Today, I am joined by Dapper Lou or Louge Delcy, a wonderful photographer, visual artist, videographer and entrepreneur that I was lucky to meet a few years ago as I was working on a special project around menswear in Italy. Since we met, Lou has made some pretty amazing strides in the world, particularly as an artist, and we kept in touch. Thank god for Instagram, right?
Anne Muhlethaler:
It just felt like I really needed to catch up with him on this podcast, for all of you to discover his art and the beauty that he puts into the world. We cover a lot of things, in particular his beginnings in the world of blogging. You’ll be pleased to know that him and I have got one very good thing in common, we both sold shoes for a while. I am particularly touched by the way he talks about his family and his closeness with his father. I am really looking forward to you listening to my conversation with Dapper Lou. Enjoy.
Anne Muhlethaler:
So, I started recording because I’m always scared that I’m not going to press record, because I hear this happens a lot to people, which makes sense. Which beach are you on?
Louge Delcy:
I’m at Riis Beach. It’s basically like Queens. Oh, you heard of Rockaway beach, right?
Anne Muhlethaler:
Yeah. That’s what I know.
Louge Delcy:
It’s not far from there. It’s on the same coastline.
Anne Muhlethaler:
That sounds nice. But thank you so much for making the time, and gracing my podcast. So would you maybe first introduce yourself for our listeners, in your own words?
Louge Delcy:
Okay. So my name is Louge Delcy also known as Dapper Lou. I guess you can say I’m an artist, I do many different things. Photography is my main media. And I’m from Brooklyn, New York. Yeah, that’s about me.
Anne Muhlethaler:
But I would say you’re probably also an entrepreneur, because you’ve got your own studio collective.
Louge Delcy:
That’s true. Yeah. I think it’s kind of the hard question for me, because it’s like I do so many different types of things, I was just narrowing down to one or two. But yes, I’m also an entrepreneur as well.
Anne Muhlethaler:
I wanted to obviously ask you first and foremost, how are you doing? Because you’re in New York and things have been pretty hardcore in your area lately. I mean, how have you gone through both COVID-19… I mean, still going through COVID-19, and also obviously the Black Lives Matter?
Louge Delcy:
Yes, I think with COVID, I mean, that was just a bit interesting because when it started, I was in Africa at the beginning of the year, January, and I guess there were talks about it but I wasn’t really following it too much. But I went to the British Virgin Islands in about end of February, and that’s when I started seeing people wearing masks going on planes. And I was like, “Okay, I’m guessing this is more serious.”
Louge Delcy:
But then full-blown March, it was just like, okay, this is what it is, this is happening. I think especially when Italy got hit, I think that’s when it became a huge scare. But I think for me, I am adjusted to the new normal. A lot of the projects that I was supposed to be working on all kind of got canceled. But yeah, but I’ve been on my health and wellness tip. So that’s where I am with COVID.
Anne Muhlethaler:
That sounds pretty good. Has anything specifically helped you in the last few months, around the sports or the mindfulness?
Louge Delcy:
What has been helping me is just kind of getting into a routine. I can’t lie, I had my binge watching, nonstop, watching the whole Netflix. I had those moments as well, but then I also was just like, “Okay.” The moment it happened, I’m going to do a goal. So I actually started running and I actually lost 15 pounds since this pandemic started.
Anne Muhlethaler:
What?
Louge Delcy:
Yeah, I know. I can’t even like… Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Good for you.
Louge Delcy:
It’s true. It’s insane. No, thanks. It gave me something, if anything were to happen, at least I could make sure that my immune system… I started eating really clean these months. So I’ve been like really taking that serious and I’m really enjoying that aspect.
Anne Muhlethaler:
And how’s New York been and Brooklyn been, over the last few weeks?
Louge Delcy:
Well, I think since we started the protest… Well, it calmed down, it’s a bit calm now. But in the beginning of it, it was just like helicopters nonstop. I’m like, “Am I in a war movie?” Obviously a lot of people were protesting. Yeah, it’s crazy how this is happening during the pandemic. I think the vibe definitely has changed during that moment. It was just very aggressive. I felt like there was so much aggression going on, but it’s really calm now. I think that things have slowly going back to normal. Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
And I think that people really do want to see some normal life, obviously still being super mindful and wearing masks and stuff, but it must be good to actually see some regular things happening?
Louge Delcy:
Yeah. Yeah. Things are opening up, the masks are still on, but I actually went to a block party the other day where we were all fully in masks and distancing, but cool, it was so, so, so, so, so, so cool. But, yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
So, I thought that maybe we could get started on this interview with asking you a little about your background and for you to tell me a bit about your family growing up. Did you always have a sense that you would work in fashion or visual arts, like photography?
Louge Delcy:
So, not at all. Nice short answer. Not at all. I think my parents were Haitian immigrants, they basically came here for kind of a better life. And I vividly remember one of my teachers, like first grade, was like, “You should get really into the artsy, more colors, draw and things like that.” But my parents, they didn’t know what to do with that. They kind of brushed that off.
Louge Delcy:
So I think that for me, I’ve always kind of had this sense of independence because my parents, they were like my go-to for even studying in school, like [inaudible 00:06:25]. They weren’t going to be like, “Oh no, this is how you do fashion, this is how you do…” It just wasn’t a conversation. I always had to either figure it out or rely on school or friends or whatever.
Louge Delcy:
So I think from an early age on, I kind of learned how to figure things out, and they were very… We were a poor background, so even when it came to my adolescence, I always knew that if I wanted to buy whatever, it wasn’t coming from my parents. I was either going to have to work for… That’s kind of, I think, where I developed my work ethic.
Louge Delcy:
And then yeah, when it came to fashion and things like that, I was actually terrified of telling my parents because it’s like how do you even formulate that, not having that confidence and even knowing I think them not giving me that kind of guidance or that structure, it kind of left almost like an open canvas, like a blank canvas for me to just explore and to me to just kind of do what I want in that sense.
Louge Delcy:
So, I guess in that sense, that helped because I know a lot of friends that I have, said that their parents are like, “No, you can’t do art, you can’t do this,” and they kind of blocked it. Whereas my parents, they were just kind of, they were very easy going with it because they didn’t know what to tell me anyway. Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
I have to tell you, there’s so many people I know whose parents did the blocking exactly like you’re describing. So the opposite of your parents basically, because they let you. They didn’t tell you, “No, you can’t.” They…
Louge Delcy:
They just kind to let me. And they always call me the American child, because I’ve always had this feisty and determination about me, but they were just kind of like, “Yeah, he’s going to figure it out.” My father always told me that I turned 18 at 10. He’s always said that I was always a little adult, but yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Do you have a close relationship with him?
Louge Delcy:
Oh, super close. I mean, I’ll probably tell you later on, but he’s literally like my delivery service, or friend, he’s literally my go-to. That’s my homie.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Oh, that’s amazing. And so how old were you when you got a sense that you wanted to work in fashion? I mean, how did you even discover that world?
Louge Delcy:
Well, I think for me it was through television because I think my parents, they would watch… I mean, my dad would just watch sports nonstop. But for me, there was this series, I don’t know the channel it was on, but it was called Full Frontal Fashion. And it was basically just kind of this reporter, and she was just talking about all these fashion shows. She was talking like Marni and Burberry, and it was literally just a runway show. And it was so crazy because, I guess when she was reviewing the shows, I literally would sit in front of the television, just glued to that.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Oh, cool.
Louge Delcy:
Just glued. And it was just the shows, over and over and over. And it was so crazy because it was just, that’s literally all I watched. It was either that, the VMAs or MTVs or music videos. So I think from a young age, I was just constantly in just into entertainment. And that’s my 101.
Anne Muhlethaler:
How old were you when you were watching?
Louge Delcy:
I was really young. I want to say a child.
Anne Muhlethaler:
So I can’t remember what you said and suddenly that brought me back, and I had forgotten that we traveled to Italy twice together, because I forgot about the first time that you were in Naples when you did the photo shoot in that beautiful Island of Procida with Bobby.
Louge Delcy:
That was an amazing experience.
Anne Muhlethaler:
So I actually took some pictures of you taking pictures of Bobby, our friend [inaudible 00:09:45], the model. And-
Louge Delcy:
That’s so funny.
Anne Muhlethaler:
… you look good. I mean, I’ve got you mainly from the back. And looking back at those pictures of you shooting him, you just looked so dapper and chic in the very hot June. So style, to me when I look at you, it seems very effortless. Can you tell me a little bit more about where you feel your style came from, or where does come from? Is it probably evolving, do you feel? Is it fluid? And what your influences are?
Louge Delcy:
In terms of my style, I think when I was young, I was just very experimentative. I would just try different colors and patterns and [inaudible 00:10:25]. Lately, my style is a bit more like, I still play around, I love patterns and prints, especially when I’m traveling. I love kind of doing the most when I’m traveling. But generally in New York, my style is very much either white or black. I love my fedora hat. I love that. That’s like my signature thing.
Louge Delcy:
And I don’t even know why or where I started wearing hats, but it was just something about it. I just felt that I just elevated it. I could literally be wearing the cheapest outfit, but that hat would just… I always made sure that if there’s one thing that was going to be amazing, it was going to be the hat, because everything else, you could wear the worst outfit, it would just be that hat would just stand out.
Louge Delcy:
And I think over the years, my hat has progressively gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. I don’t know why. But the hat that I’m wearing at the moment is probably the biggest hat that I’ve ever worn. I actually need a summer version of this hat. I need a nice fedora version of it. But yeah, I think my style, I just try to keep it simple. I don’t try to do too much. Yeah. I always know, okay, when to stop. But every so often when I’m feeling myself, then I’ll go above. But I try to keep it simple as possible.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Who do you admire? Is there anybody whose style you really look up to?
Louge Delcy:
I’m trying to think. So, okay, so in high school, I wouldn’t say I looked up to him but I will say that, funny enough, Kanye because at the time when I was in high school, Kanye was just coming out. I remember there was a phase where he kind of inspired me to be able to wear blazers and stuff in school. I do remember that. I do remember that because, I mean, my high school was hood. It was nothing fancy in my high school.
Louge Delcy:
But I remember him making it acceptable for kids to wear blazers to school, I think that’s when I kind of started dressing up to school. And no one said anything because they were just like, “Oh, he’s rocking that Kanye look,” or whatever. And just that whole preppy style, it wasn’t a thing in my high school because everyone kind of just wore Jordans. That was the thing. I guess he was a style icon in that sense.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Yeah, I have mixed feelings about Kanye in general, but I do remember how much I loved him when he first came on the scene and how much I loved his music then. And so I’ve known you and I’ve known your work for a few years. And so can you tell me a bit about how you relate contrast, texture and color as a photographer? How has that sort of been informed by influences around you?
Louge Delcy:
I think when I got into photography initially, I was just kind of doing what I thought I should be doing. But I think once I developed… I realized that the medium is really just a extension of your personality. So I think once I understood and I was able to understand who I am as a person, I think that a lot of those things just kind of played out. I’m a vibrant, colorful kind of person in general, so I think that having that in my work is natural because that’s just the way I view the world. I’m attracted to textures, I’m attracted to color. If I’m driving down a block in Brooklyn or whatever, I’m instantaneously gravitated to the colorful walls.
Louge Delcy:
And I remember just recently someone was saying, “What are you taking a picture of?” Just a random stranger. And I was just like, “Oh, the shadow with the color of the wall.” But it was literally just a red wall. So I’m like, “Oh, I guess if someone’s observing me, it’s just looks random.” And also it plays too in my heritage. The Islands are very colorful places. It’s kind of the DNA to just revert to those color choices. I think it’s just like in me, I guess, in a sense.
Anne Muhlethaler:
I saw this beautiful shoot that you did. I think it was for a watch for HYPEBEAST?
Louge Delcy:
Yes.
Anne Muhlethaler:
You were running red paint down this beautiful woman’s face. That was really fun. So clearly you’re not scared of being bold right?
Louge Delcy:
No. Exactly. The bolder, the better.
Anne Muhlethaler:
I love that. How do you choose and approach your subjects? Because you actually started photography and it was, at the beginning, mainly street style. And from what I’ve heard, you really did photograph as many people as you could, as often as you could. So how did you approach and choose your subjects?
Louge Delcy:
So for street style, I kind of just walked up to them and around that time, I was doing it in SoHo, because I worked at this shoe store and then on my lunch break, I would literally just go out and photograph people on my break. So I would just ask them, I would say, “Hey, do you mind if I take a portrait of you?” And many people would say yeah, some people would say no. And after a while you started knowing the yes people and the no people. It’s like, the more stylish they were, when they knew they were really, really cool, generally they would say no.
Louge Delcy:
So after a while, you start to notice people’s habits and behaviors. That why you just have to be persistent. I was very excited to ask them, so I think they kind of vibed off that excitement. And then, yeah. And then it just so happened that a lot of them worked at fashion companies or just from being in SoHo, so it turned into a form of networking. But that’s really how I met people. It was just kind of, you just say, “Hey.” I was just like, “Two seconds.” I almost made it in a sense where you can’t say no. And generally, for the most part, it would work.
Anne Muhlethaler:
I mean, why would anyone say no to you? I don’t know. You know what? You just reminded me that our careers have something in common.
Louge Delcy:
Really? What is it?
Anne Muhlethaler:
That we both worked in shoe stores. Because I worked in a shoe store for a while.
Louge Delcy:
Hey. Oh, yes.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Tell me about retail. What was the shoe store? What kind of shoes were you selling?
Louge Delcy:
So it was a store called Glory Chen, and it was my last retail job. It was an interesting company. The store isn’t around anymore. Nonetheless, yeah, I worked there and it was a very easy job because we didn’t have to do much and it was very low traffic. It was very boutique style. So yeah. So before the job, I would literally be doing photography stuff in my lunch break, and then afterwards I would go to events. So I kind of called it my unofficial sponsor, just because literally she kind of helped me. And I only worked four days a week, so for the rest of the days, I was really just free to kind of do my work. So yeah, it was a nice place to kind of help me transition into full-time work as an artist.
Anne Muhlethaler:
That’s amazing. So when you started with photography, how did you transition? I assume doing street style at the beginning.
Louge Delcy:
So I think actually, basically at that time, it was all about blog. At that time, I had a menswear blog, so the street style was kind of just one theory within the blog Dapper Lou, and I would kind of photograph my outfit. So that was a series, and then another series was the shoe style, which I called Street Gen, but it was basically a photography blog just showing either guy’s style, my style, it was a mixture of different things, and products that I liked as well. So I was a heavy blogger at the time.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Do you know what? I feel like it’s so long ago, it’s almost like I forgot blogging existed.
Louge Delcy:
I know.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Blogging was taken over, for me, it was already completely migrating into Instagram, right? By 2013, ’14. So it feels like ages ago.
Louge Delcy:
It does. It feels like… And I remember it was a thing the magazines would do, “These are the top blogs to follow.” It was literally a thing.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Yeah, I was never a blog follower, personally. That was not my thing. I appreciated the style and the photography of several ones, and yours as well.
Louge Delcy:
For me, it was fun at that moment, because it was kind of like, it was just kind of my introduction to working with brands as well, because after a while, brands just like, “Oh, how do we…” They wanted to get featured on your blog and things. So it was like, even for me, it feels like ages ago, but it was a whole different way of working even though the principles still translate today. But yeah, it was a whole different thing. But it was cool for the time.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Yeah, for the time. The reason I was thinking about asking you that is I heard you interviewed on the HYPEBEAST radio podcasts, which I really enjoyed by the way, and-
Louge Delcy:
Oh, cool.
Anne Muhlethaler:
… the interviewer asked you a really interesting question about your relationship with social media and fashion. And of course, for a while you were the subject of a lot of photography and that was one of the ways to promote yourself. And since then, I heard you talking about how you transitioned your photography being its own value as a subject. And so I wanted you to expand on that a little bit. How do you feel about social media today and how does it support you or hinder you, let’s say, as an artist?
Louge Delcy:
I literally built my whole career and everything off of social media. So I think it’s an amazing tool that I use to my benefit because it’s like the reach it gives you, and also there’s power behind social media and there’s power behind just being as specific as I am on social media. And I think if used the right way, it can be an amazing tool. Obviously with the pluses it has its drawbacks, like as an artist, sometimes you may feel constantly this pressure to produce or just constant pressure to kind of be working on something, which is not how I work now.
Louge Delcy:
But I think that I’m at a place with social media that I understand that yeah, I don’t have to post every single day, when I post, I post. I kind of don’t let it control me, I’m more in control of the medium. And I learned that from the way artists post, because I will see someone like Solange or Frank Ocean, they’ll post once whenever they… Obviously their influence is way greater, so people will wait, and then I just kind of adopted that same mentality. When I go on a trip, I don’t have to literally Instagram every single moment. I can wait till the end of the trip and make a beautiful story. And for me it works better that way because there’s not just constant pressure.
Louge Delcy:
So that’s one aspect. But I do love social media, obviously, I built the brand off of it. So I mean, I love the aspect of, the reach you’re able to find. Just recently, some people bought images from me all the way in Belgium. And it’s like, where would they have found me otherwise? So I think that aspect is really beautiful. And even like traveling wise, I’ll go to some places and then I literally would have a whole network of people have been following my work. Like when I went to Kenya, people are literally like, “Oh, Lou, let’s meet up, let’s link up.”
Louge Delcy:
But I’m like, it’s crazy. I’m literally in this foreign land, for me, and I can literally just meet a creative community just by saying, “Hey,” just by looking at my geotag, like, “Hey, are you in Kenya right now?” So I think that aspect of it is really amazing. So with everything, it has its plus and minuses.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Sure. And how do you feel about being in front of the camera nowadays?
Louge Delcy:
So, okay, so now I think I’m okay with it. I think at that time, I was only known for being in front. I think there was just kind of the self-fulfillment that I needed to know that I needed my work also to kind of be at the forefront, whereas if you’re in front of the camera, for the most part, you’ll probably get more engagement, more likes, because people just like seeing familiar faces or people that they know. But I wanted that same effect for my work alone.
Louge Delcy:
And I was thinking in terms of longevity, like when I’m 50, 60, 70, 80, I don’t know however old, I’m thinking, I want my work to be at the forefront, not my physical appearance, because obviously my look is going to change. So I don’t want to be judged primarily on how I look, I want to be known for my work and I want my work to outgrow the individual, in a sense. Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
And it’s true that ideally you want the work to speak, I really fully understand. But it’s a fine balance because I feel like your fans and followers also, because they like your work, they want to connect with you, I guess, as well.
Louge Delcy:
Yeah. No, absolutely. Now I don’t have an issue with it because I’ve come to a place where I’ve been able to build my work to a place where now I can do both. But I think because I kind of grew up, I was really young when I started photography, in my early 20s just going through these transitions and changes, I sat and I reflected like, what really do I want to be either remembered for or whatever. I think I just had to grow as a creative and as an artist. And I think I had to understand both. So now if someone asked me to be in a campaign, I have no issues with it because my work by itself still stands. I’ve actually built something that I’m proud of. So yeah, I’m totally in a better place in terms of that, yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
That’s lovely. So I’ve seen some of the amazing things you’ve done recently, not just for Louboutin, but sort of your body of work, because obviously we’ve stayed in touch and I’ve been following you. And the other day, you explained to me how you are curating Instagram as if it was an exhibition or your portfolio, and working around color as if it were an exhibition somehow. So I love your approach. How do you feel right now, personally, on commercial versus artistic? What’s that journey been like for you in the last couple of years?
Louge Delcy:
That is a journey in itself. That journey was very, very difficult for me because I think coming from this commercial aspect where I guess, brands would use me as a person to advertise their product, that’s always kind of been at top of mind for me. And that’s how I know how to make money is through that commercial aspect. But I think transitioning into art space, I didn’t necessarily know how to… I mean, obviously yes, it’s like, you just show your own work. But I think at that time, just understanding… Because for a long time, people weren’t even requesting prints, and my content was totally different.
Louge Delcy:
So I think that when I started changing the way I shoot, then it became something that someone would want, they would actually want in their home. I just really had to sit back and just process of the commercial Lou, art Lou. And what I did was, I just made an agency, Dapper Studios, in which where I was able to still work on commercial and branding projects for a client while also separating my…
Louge Delcy:
So my photography, my website now it’s just purely the work, the photography, and if you want to see the commercial side, there’s a whole other website for that. So I just needed to mentally separate the two and I just made that into an agency. Now that I’m selling my work, the commercial is a like right back into it.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Sure.
Louge Delcy:
But I think that as a photographer, it helped me understand the type of visuals I was creating, because the visuals I would create for a brand would be a totally different visual that I would just create for myself.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Sure.
Louge Delcy:
And I do know that obviously there’s photographers that marry the two worlds, and essentially I do. And even with the studio, it’s still has a very artistic point of view. So in a sense, they still marry, even though they’re a bit separate. Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Sure and you have a really good crew, because I remember hanging out with them. Especially-
Louge Delcy:
Hey, yeah, they’re awesome.
Anne Muhlethaler:
They’re awesome. Gosh, it was such a good trip. It really was. I hope we can do something else like that again.
Louge Delcy:
So just to really elaborate on that. So low key in a sense, you actually, you and that Louboutin project actually was kind of a part of the forming of the studio, honestly.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Really?
Louge Delcy:
Because, no legitimately, because that was one of the first trips or first or second trips in which where we were kind of traveling like that. And I think Louboutin was the first brand in which we were all kind of featured. So that trip, subconsciously, is what really started the studio to be honest. Pure honesty.
Anne Muhlethaler:
That’s amazing. Oh my God.
Louge Delcy:
No, pure, pure, pure, pure honesty. And it’s funny because I reference that so much when I’m speaking to other clients, I’m like, “Oh yeah, this is probably one of the first projects that we came together as a collective.” But I guess, I don’t know if I ever mentioned that to you, but literally that-
Anne Muhlethaler:
No.
Louge Delcy:
I know. Yeah. It’s a good place to be mentioning it. But yeah, literally that was kind of the project that set the stage for the studio. Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
That’s so awesome. And I felt, I remember when it got together, it was kind of with a small budget but sort of really big, bold ideas. I really loved having all of you guys as we reminisced already the other day, but God, that first night with the old Italian dudes singing New York, New York with all of you on the waterfront that night was so much fun.
Louge Delcy:
That trip alone was just like… I mean, most of the experiences were literally so amazing. I mean, we absolutely loved it. Absolutely, absolutely loved it. Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Yeah, awesome. Oh, well.
Louge Delcy:
And your lovely singing.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Oh yes, that’s true. You remember that bit.
Louge Delcy:
Yes, yes.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Actually, I’m really happy to be a podcaster because that just gave me the excuse to build myself a mini home studio and to buy a really sick mic, because why not?
Louge Delcy:
Oh, you should. Why not?
Anne Muhlethaler:
[crosstalk 00:27:10].
Louge Delcy:
I mean, why not?
Anne Muhlethaler:
So I want to switch gears because we’ve never talked about this, but it’s very important. Let’s talk about Lauryn Hill. I mean, you just mentioned my singing. So you watched Full Frontal TV when you were a kid, I watched Lauryn Hill in Sister Act 2, and-
Louge Delcy:
Wow.
Anne Muhlethaler:
… watched it on repeat again and again and again and again. So tell me about that shoot. How did that happen? How was it? And how was it for you?
Louge Delcy:
Okay. So basically I was shooting… It was so random. I was just working with this model of a good friend of mine, [Amnara 00:27:43], and out of nowhere… So he has an agent at IMG. So out of nowhere, his agent was just like, “Oh yeah, Lauryn loves your work and she’s working on a project.” A little bit of detail, they didn’t have too much details at the time, but they were like, “She really wants to work with you on this project.” And in my head, I was kind of like, “Okay, this is like…” First of all, and I remember, I barely remember being at the studio, like okay, I didn’t even get excited because I was like, “I’m not getting excited until she’s in this space.”
Louge Delcy:
So I didn’t get excited. I was just like, “Okay, this sounds really cool. Let me know how everything works out,” whatever. So she was working with this designer named [Melody 00:28:22] and they were doing kind of like a capsule collection for her 20 year anniversary of Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. So, and she’s like, “This is a big deal. Lauryn Hill doesn’t really get shot by… She hasn’t been shot in X amount of time.” And they gave… I was just like, “Oh my gosh.”
Louge Delcy:
So the morning of the shoot, basically I couldn’t sleep. I did not sleep literally for like 24 hours, because it was just like first of all, how do you prepare? How do you… My only request for that shoot was, I was like, “I have to shoot Lauryn Hill in my studio.” Because they wanted me to go out to New Jersey for it, and I was like, “Nope.” I was like, “My one request is to shoot her in my studio.” So the call time was 10:00 AM, and as you know, Lauryn Hill was gracefully fashionably late. So she didn’t arrive until about like 2:00 PM-ish and then hair and makeup took another four hours. So it was very insane, because we’re like… And I arrived on set at 7:00 AM. So I literally had basically-
Anne Muhlethaler:
Oh, man.
Louge Delcy:
I know. So I basically worked on full workday before we actually started shooting. But when we started shooting, her vibe, her everything about like, just everything about her was just electric. It was just… And just hearing, first of all, hearing her speak in person was just like, it was like… I can’t even describe to you because it was almost… It’s like this recognizable sound that you hear all the time, but now hearing it in front of you is just insane. I literally could’ve recorded the whole shoot and it would’ve been an album. It would’ve been like an album because every… the way she speaks, it just sounds like she’s rapping.
Louge Delcy:
It was insane. It was absolutely insane. We flowed so well, and I was really honored because she really let me do my thing. She really respected the craft and I was so thankful for that. Even from the throne chair we used, we rented it for a day and the guy doesn’t even [inaudible 00:30:15]. He was talking through, but when we were like, “We don’t want to buy it, we just want it for a day,” he was like, “Sure.”
Louge Delcy:
I mean, yeah that whole day, it was just so magical. And she got so comfortable with me to the point she was like leaning on my shoulder. I was like, “Oh my gosh.” And it’s so funny because I was like… When I’m directing, I’m like, “You need to do this, you need to do this.” So I was basically like, “Lauryn,” I was doing this hand move, like, “you need to [inaudible 00:30:41] you need to focus on me, or focus, focus.” I was literally telling her to focus. But yeah, it was an amazing shoot.
Anne Muhlethaler:
That’s phenomenal. I mean, I’m looking at one of the pictures right now on my screen, the one in the red ruffly dress.
Louge Delcy:
Yes. Yes. Oh, yeah that was-
Anne Muhlethaler:
There’s something so piercing about her look.
Louge Delcy:
Oh my gosh. Oh my God.
Anne Muhlethaler:
It’s really special.
Louge Delcy:
Wow. Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Well, good for you. So I found out that you’ve worked with a really beautiful charity called Giants of Africa.
Louge Delcy:
Yes.
Anne Muhlethaler:
And they are doing this beautiful thing, which is to build basketball courts throughout the continent. Am I correct?
Louge Delcy:
Yes.
Anne Muhlethaler:
And so would you tell me, how did you find them and… or did they find you? And I mean, we’ve just talked about Lauryn Hill so going onwards and upwards. Did you photograph Barack Obama? Did I read that right, in Kenya?
Louge Delcy:
Yes. Okay. So that shoot came about, there was this woman named Vivian, she was following me on Instagram and she’s a consultant for the brand. She reached out to me and she was like, they’re working on this project in Kenya and they potentially would want to use me. But she said that Masai, who’s the the owner, he’s also the owner of the Toronto Raptors. So I meet him at this event called Women in Sport, it was just this gala event. So I meet him, and it’s crazy because I’m just… I think, “How did I end up here?” Sometimes things happen and I’m just like…
Louge Delcy:
So I’m at this gala and I’m at the table of the Toronto Raptors, I’m like, “I don’t shoot basketball.” So then I meet Masai, so right after that meeting, she comes up to me and she goes, “Yeah Masai likes you. So basically we can move forward.” And I think he just really went into my vibe or whatever. So we ended up, they gave me details about the project that you literally was going to be shooting Kim and Barack Obama in Kenya. So Barack Obama’s sister has this facility in Kenya which, it’s an art school, it’s all these opportunities for kids that live in a very, very remote town, and I feel like [inaudible 00:32:42]. I mean, when we worked on our project, that’s when they were actually installing wifi. So you can just imagine it was very, very remote.
Louge Delcy:
But anyway, his sister was doing this huge event and Masai was actually building the basketball court as a part of the project. So Barack was actually going just kind of give a speech, and they said that this was his first time returning to Kenya since his presidency. So yeah, it was so crazy because it was CIA agents, it was literally insane. And he showed up in pure style. That man showed up in a full on helicopter, first of all, and I don’t even know when he arrived. That’s the thing, you just starting seeing him walking around. I’m like, “Oh my gosh.”
Louge Delcy:
So then there was kind of a tournament for the kids, and when the tournament happened, I mean and Barack was playing with the kids, because Masai has this basketball camp and the whole camp is about empowering the youth. So Barack is on the court playing with the kids, so amazing. And he only makes one shot, only one shot, and he makes it. And it was amazing. It was the most amazing… It was like mic drop. And I was just like, “How could this ma be so perfect?’ It was literally insane. But yeah, so that was that opportunity, and basically I was just… They hired me to document the culture surrounding the festivities, and then I also took an image, yes, of Barack and Masai. So, yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
I would love for you to share the link so I can put it in the show notes so people can go and have a look at it.
Louge Delcy:
Sure, definitely. Okay.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Because it sounds super, super amazing. So you’ve traveled quite a bit throughout Africa. Am I correct?
Louge Delcy:
Yes.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Because I read somewhere that someone called you a visual documentarian. I think it was HYPEBEAST again. And then I can quote you, because there was a really beautiful sentence. You said, “Beautiful people can be found in every culture, so I try to dignify them with the portraiture I take. My mission is to highlight the stories of people by putting them in the most positive light.” I thought that was beautiful.
Louge Delcy:
Oh, thank you.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Tell us a little bit more about it. What has it been like to… This is a very different type of journey to what you’ve done before.
Louge Delcy:
So that trip to Kenya really changed my perspective because I think I started seeing people just in a very different light. I think traveling really helped me to… I think that trip alone, and mind you, that trip was only two years ago, funny enough. That just just kind of opened my eyes to the beauty in the world because we see the narrative of Africa, we’ve seen so many narratives of it, and for a time, the narrative wasn’t that great. But what I love about travel and just documenting my own experiences, I’m able to change or create a different narrative. Yes, are there people starving around the world? Yeah, yeah. That is true. But there’s also…
Louge Delcy:
That trip specifically showed me that a lot of people were so content with just what they have. I really just learned so many social values, like contentment and just this whole aspect of it. And I was like, “That’s really what I want to highlight in my work.” I really want to show, yes, we can talk about poverty, but within that, there’s so much beauty. There’s just… And that’s what I want to focus on. So I shoot a lot of people, whether it’s on the beach or whether… I try to shoot people in a place where they’re just having fun. So whether it’s kids playing or, whatever it is, and that’s really the mission of my work.
Louge Delcy:
And also showing the similarities within different cultures, whether it’s Africa, whether it’s Brazil, whether it’s India, wherever it is in the world, there’s just so many things that make us united in a sense. Anywhere I go in the world, you’re going to find those men working on their cars, you’re going to find the kids playing by the water, you’re going to find the woman hustling at the marketplace. It may come in different forms and shapes and blah, blah, blah, but at the end of the day, it’s like I feel like that same core value of the human experience is evident everywhere you go.
Louge Delcy:
And I think that’s just something that I wanted to highlight in my work, is that human experience through travel, and really focusing on the positives. And do these experience… Is it all beautiful experiences or cupcakes and stuff? No. Sometimes I got to hustle to get that shot, or maybe just right after that shot, something crazy happens. But just because you’re just in that instant, just in that moment, I just want to document the beauty of people as much as I possibly can.
Anne Muhlethaler:
It sounds absolutely wonderful. And I think you highlighted our common humanity and how you can see it, even if it takes different, slightly different shapes and forms. The other day, we talked about how invested you were in interiors nowadays, and how committed you were or how strongly you felt about collaborating with the people who are buying your prints, about finding the right space for them. So tell me a little bit, how have you become interested in interiors, and also tell me about the exhibitions that are coming up.
Louge Delcy:
So for interiors, so funny enough, that’s something that I loved since I was a kid. I’ve always… I actually, I almost went to school for interior design, but someone actually ended up discouraging me. It was this architect that I met at the time. And he made interior designers sound so insignificant in relation to architecture. So I was just like, “Man, I don’t know if I want to do that anymore.” It was so funny. But nonetheless, I still love interiors.
Louge Delcy:
So I just started working with this furniture store in Brooklyn and I’m just that person, I would just walk up into a place. And I walked in and I’m like, “Hey, do you guys work with local artists?” And she said, “I would love to.” And then boom, just from that one little thing, my work is now in her store. We’re planning on doing this mural outside of her store with my work, it’s insane. I’m obsessed with all things interior and aesthetics and, yeah. Like, yeah. I just love it.
Anne Muhlethaler:
What’s the name of that specific store again?
Louge Delcy:
It’s Dyphor, D-Y-P-H-O-R. Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Oh, cool. Yeah, I need to look it up because I loved the picture that you showed me. That’s really exciting. And so you told me the other day that you had a couple of exciting exhibitions coming up.
Louge Delcy:
Yeah. So I have this exhibition with The Smithsonian. It’s called Men of Change, and it’s basically about changing the narrative about black men in America. And it really focuses on presidents, musicians, activists, a good array of different writers, good array of different talent. And they are using two of my images in the exhibition. And it’s funny because the images that they’re using for me… The whole exhibition is basically black and white, but they’re actually using one image of mine that is in color. And I think that was really cool because-
Anne Muhlethaler:
Wow.
Louge Delcy:
… most of the photographs are in black and white, but they’re using this one bright, colorful [inaudible 00:39:30] one. And then also one of the images that I took in Kenya of these boys in a line, waiting on line, doing the Obama project, they’re using that image. And it’s so funny how it turns full circle because Obama’s actually in that exhibition as well. He has a portrait or something in the exhibition.
Louge Delcy:
So it was just so funny how that worked out. But that’s actually one of my favorite images. So that exhibition is going to 10 different cities in the US, and the whole point of this exhibition is for people that cannot make it to The Smithsonian. So they typically would show in different cities. So right now it’s going to be at the California African-American museum in LA. So that’s going to be opening soon and it’s going to be there for a few months, about three months or so.
Louge Delcy:
And then the other exhibition that I have going on is for… I can’t pronounce it, but Photo, what? Photo Site?
Anne Muhlethaler:
Photo Schweiz.
Louge Delcy:
Photo Schweiz. Yes. Photo Schweiz. Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
I mean, it’s okay if your German is not fluent. It’s fine. It’s Photo Switzerland. Yeah.
Louge Delcy:
So yeah, so I’m working with them. They’re using… We’re still undecided on the number of images, but I sent them about 10 images from a Masai series that I shot in Kenya. And this whole exhibition is cool because you see the images from a flat lay, so as you’re standing, you’re kind of looking down at the photos on a cube. And they gave me my own cube, which is nice. That’s going to be up for a few months, and they said they want that to travel throughout the world. So I’m still waiting on the development of that.
Anne Muhlethaler:
That’s wonderful. And that’s going to be in Zurich.
Louge Delcy:
And that’s going to be in Zurich. Yes.
Anne Muhlethaler:
That’s fantastic.
Louge Delcy:
I know. Awesome.
Anne Muhlethaler:
So I’m going to ask you a few quick fire questions and just tell me anything that comes up to your mind, when I say, what is your favorite word?
Louge Delcy:
My favorite word? Oh my gosh. Faith. Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
There’s a bird behind you, by the way.
Louge Delcy:
There is? Oh, sorry.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Yeah, no, it’s okay. And What sound or noise do you love?
Louge Delcy:
Which sound or noise do I love? I love the sound of the ocean, and that’s funny enough, I’m at the beach. But I love the sound of the ocean. That’s the most humbling, relaxing sound to me. I don’t know.
Anne Muhlethaler:
That sounds beautiful. What would you say to your younger self if you could send yourself a message?
Louge Delcy:
I would tell my younger self to make sure he reads all the contracts. Find a lawyer and read the contracts. Yes. But, yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
That is great advice. I agree with you on that. Now tell me about one thing you’re not very good at.
Louge Delcy:
Ooh. One thing I’m not very good at? I think, okay, so one thing I’m not very good at is sometimes I get very excited, my ideas are all over the place. So I guess it could be organization of ideas when I’m super excited about something because I’ll sometimes… And yeah, even when I’m shooting, I literally have to take a moment to become desensitized of the situation, then take a picture because sometimes I get so excited that I actually shoot nothing and it’s all trash. So I have to take a moment, let all the emotions exit, and then I’m like, “Okay, now I’m ready to produce.”
Anne Muhlethaler:
Yeah, let them go.
Louge Delcy:
Let them go. Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Who do you admire?
Louge Delcy:
I admire my dad. I’m obsessed with my father, I admire my dad.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Oh, that’s so nice. What’s his name?
Louge Delcy:
Joseph.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Joseph. Hi, Joseph.
Louge Delcy:
Or as I would say, [Ja 00:43:08]. I call him Ja.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Oh, actually, can you do me a favor? How do you pronounce your first name?
Louge Delcy:
Louge, Louge Delcy. Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Louge, okay. Because when I see it, obviously I want to say it with a French accent.
Louge Delcy:
Louge?
Anne Muhlethaler:
Yes, exactly.
Louge Delcy:
Well, you can, you can. You can say Louge.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Because it’s a really beautiful name.
Louge Delcy:
But that’s basically, that’s really my name, it’s Louge. I mean, Louge is more of a… It was a nickname my parents gave me, but Louge is really my name. Either, or.
Anne Muhlethaler:
That’s beautiful.
Louge Delcy:
Yeah.
Anne Muhlethaler:
And then the last question I would like to ask you is what brings you happiness?
Louge Delcy:
I think spirituality brings me happiness, honestly.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Tell me more.
Louge Delcy:
Oh, sorry. Yeah, I’m a very religious spiritual person. So I think that brings me happiness in a sense where I think it keeps me grounded, it keeps me focusing on the big picture of life and not just… I think that’s kind of one of the things that really keeps me… Well, I try to be a humble person, but once you call yourself humble, you’re no longer humble, but yeah. I try to kind of be as chill as I can. I think those values comes from spirituality. I mean, my background and growing up, I have a very solid spiritual foundation.
Louge Delcy:
So I think that’s kind of what even helps me to work the way I’m able to work. And even the things that I do now, like products that I work on, are… A friend of mine mentioned that even my work is turning into this almost missionary art, because I’m really into just humanity and people and this type of [inaudible 00:44:34]. But yeah, I think spirituality is really huge [inaudible 00:44:36] for me. It keeps me happy and grounded.
Anne Muhlethaler:
I agree with what your friend’s saying. It feels like the humanity, the beauty of humanity is coming through your pictures.
Louge Delcy:
Oh, thank you. I appreciate that.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Well, thank you so much, Louge, for joining me today on the podcast. Do me a favor, can you tell our listeners where they can find you online? What’s the best way to get to your work?
Louge Delcy:
So just Dapper Lou. Type that in, it’ll bring you to everything else.
Anne Muhlethaler:
And obviously I will put everything in the show notes, including links-
Louge Delcy:
Awesome.
Anne Muhlethaler:
… to the various projects we’ve talked about. So thank you so much.
Louge Delcy:
Awesome.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Enjoy the beach.
Louge Delcy:
Thanks for having me.
Anne Muhlethaler:
I mean-
Louge Delcy:
Thank you so much.
Anne Muhlethaler:
I’m a tiny bit jealous. I kind of wish I was there.
Louge Delcy:
This is your beach interview.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Cool. Thank you so much.
Louge Delcy:
No, It’s been real. It’s been good.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Oh, awesome.
Anne Muhlethaler:
Thanks to Dapper Lou for joining me today. All details of his projects and website, Instagram, everything is in the show notes. So that’s it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you’ll join us again next time. Our theme music is by Connor Heffernan, artwork by the wonderful Brian Ponto and special thanks to Joel North for the sound editing, making this fit for your ears.
You can soon find all of my episodes and find more about my projects at annevmuhlethaler.com. And if you don’t know how to spell that, it’s also in the show notes. If you can, rate and review the show on iTunes, it helps other people find it and we appreciate it very much. Until next time, be well, be safe, remember the hand-washing, social distancing, all of that good stuff. Thank you.
