Stephanie Borcard and Nicolas Metraux. Who are Stephanie Borcard and Nicolas Metraux? We are a Swiss couple living for the past 9 months in Asian hotel rooms. Currently we are in Sichuan province, China. We like to travel slowly and to spend time in places. We are rather shy and solitary. We work on personal projects, developing calm and poetic images. Our photography is subjective. Through our recent series of photographs, we try to create a set of emotions, rather than to document a specific subject. Human interactions have always been our source of inspiration. We used to get very close to people. Now, we appreciate a certain distance. Before coming to photography, Stephanie was a teacher and Nicolas a woodworker and an architect. In your website you state that photography is a way to express your curiosity about life and its expressions beyond cultural and language barriers… We are curious! We are always interested what is behind the next bend of the road. In the beginning, we were very attracted by the cultural differences.  This state of mind has matured and changed to an attraction of human similarities. Our project, Varanasi, night wanderings is a statement about death. It concerns us all. Even if the Hindu funeral rites are completely different than those in the Western world, the outcome is the same. It was a very powerful and beautiful experience. By your words, for you being a photographer is not a profession, it is a way of life, to understand life, discovering the world and their connections… Do you feel more alive on the road? There are different kinds of photographers as there are ways of thinking. We have adapted our way of life accordingly to our creative process. The question of feeling more alive on the road is quite tricky! By answering yes, it would mean that life at home is quite boring… This is not what we want to say. But of course, life on the road is very exciting and challenging. What has attracted you to Asia? The two giant countries India and China had an overwhelming impression on us. We really felt a complete change of scenery. We like to be immersed in strong cultures. We come from Switzerland, a tiny dot on the map. In Asia, generally speaking, we feel this boiling power, a sort of gold rush.  Everything changes extremely fast, day-by-day new buildings rise and cultural habits change. In contrast to this bustling pace, our photographic language tend to be intimate and contemplative. Since 2003 we regularly come to Asia. We spent two and a half years in the East from 2006 to 2008 without returning back to Switzerland. We developed an affinity with the countries we visited, returning several times to China and India. As Marc Riboud said: “Places are like friends, you want to keep in contact with them, to be informed about their changes and to find out how they evolve.”
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Stephanie Borcard and Nicolas Metraux.

Who are Stephanie Borcard and Nicolas Metraux?

We are a Swiss couple living for the past 9 months in Asian hotel rooms. Currently we are in Sichuan province, China. We like to travel slowly and to spend time in places. We are rather shy and solitary. We work on personal projects, developing calm and poetic images. Our photography is subjective.

Through our recent series of photographs, we try to create a set of emotions, rather than to document a specific subject. Human interactions have always been our source of inspiration. We used to get very close to people. Now, we appreciate a certain distance. Before coming to photography, Stephanie was a teacher and Nicolas a woodworker and an architect.

In your website you state that photography is a way to express your curiosity about life and its expressions beyond cultural and language barriers…

We are curious! We are always interested what is behind the next bend of the road. In the beginning, we were very attracted by the cultural differences. 

This state of mind has matured and changed to an attraction of human similarities. Our project, Varanasi, night wanderings is a statement about death. It concerns us all. Even if the Hindu funeral rites are completely different than those in the Western world, the outcome is the same. It was a very powerful and beautiful experience.

By your words, for you being a photographer is not a profession, it is a way of life, to understand life, discovering the world and their connections… Do you feel more alive on the road?

There are different kinds of photographers as there are ways of thinking. We have adapted our way of life accordingly to our creative process. The question of feeling more alive on the road is quite tricky! By answering yes, it would mean that life at home is quite boring… This is not what we want to say. But of course, life on the road is very exciting and challenging.

What has attracted you to Asia?

The two giant countries India and China had an overwhelming impression on us. We really felt a complete change of scenery. We like to be immersed in strong cultures. We come from Switzerland, a tiny dot on the map. In Asia, generally speaking, we feel this boiling power, a sort of gold rush. 

Everything changes extremely fast, day-by-day new buildings rise and cultural habits change. In contrast to this bustling pace, our photographic language tend to be intimate and contemplative.

Since 2003 we regularly come to Asia. We spent two and a half years in the East from 2006 to 2008 without returning back to Switzerland. We developed an affinity with the countries we visited, returning several times to China and India. As Marc Riboud said: “Places are like friends, you want to keep in contact with them, to be informed about their changes and to find out how they evolve.”

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