A Passion for Photography...and Provence

Photographer Michael Bastia was born in Cassis, which he describes as a small fishermen's village by the Mediterranean. He had a troubled childhood but found comfort in his surroundings. "Growing up in Provence helped me appreciate the beauty of nature early on," he says. His first job was taking pictures of ski tourists in the French Alps and every day when his work was done, he’d turn his lens on mountains and nature. "I was falling in love with photography," he remembers. "But I didn't know it would be my career path." 

Next Michael ventured into cooking but after years in professional kitchens, realized he wasn't happy. "I was always taking pictures on the side," he says, "and it gave me so much pleasure." So he decided to take the plunge and "take my love story with photography to a new level." Shortly thereafter, he decided to travel and work abroad and he ended up in Canada where he earned a living shooting weddings, portraits, industrial jobs, real estate and sports. He also volunteered for associations that helped children in social difficulties, "so they could help spread the word of their situation and also of their success, through a picture." 

These days Michael, 34, is most moved by cultural, humanitarian, street, landscape and fine-art photography. Inspiration comes, he says, from "many great photographers around the world" including Reza Deghati, Kazuyoshi Nomachi and Yann Arthus-Bertrand, to name a few. 

After returning to live in Cassis,  Michael set out to create a large database of still images and HD videos that capture his native South of France from every angle (such as the photo taken in Marseille, above). "This project has brought me back to my roots and especially to my beautiful Provence," he reports. "My goal is to make this wonderful region accessible from all around the world, through the web. As the collection grows, my hope is that it will be used for business and personal reasons…that it will serve as a patrimonial and memorial digital bank of Provence.

"Capturing an image and being able to tell a story through the picture you've created is amazing to me," he continues. "Photography is an evolution of one's self and I am always evolving. Hopefully my passion and images will inspire or bring pleasure into someone's life, as they have done for me."

The project is in its early stages but you can see some of the images here. All of Michael's photos are for sale, in a variety of print sizes. His website is under construction but he can be reached by email: michaelbastia.info@gmail.com.