On the island of St Martin, French portrait photographer François Castelain is getting close and personal with the raw beauty of the islanders through his intimate snapshots.

On the island of St Martin, French portrait photographer Fran&ccedil;ois Castelain is getting close and personal with the raw beauty of the islanders through his intimate snapshots.

A rarity is always worth mentioning, and we have spotted one in the work of a young and amazingly talented photographer living and working on the nearby island of St Martin. For his portraits, photographer Fran&ccedil;ois Castelain has not chosen an easy method. A thousand miles from modelling agencies, he casts his models in the hot neighbourhoods of the island, frequenting bars and night time spots not really for tourists; the Larry Clark of the Caribbean hangs out with the wild local youths of St Martin and wanting to remain anonymous.

It was really when he arrived in St Martin in 2015 that he fell under the spell of the island, mesmerised by the beauty of the inhabitants of the island that adopted him, discovering a passion for its cultural diversity. He works with instinct, the feeling that comes from each of his encounters at random from everyday life, sometimes turning around in the middle of traffic on his scooter to immortalize a face that has inspired him.

An art that relies on reality, all modelled through piercing looks, Castelain can tell a story from a fixed image. Often soft and powerful at the same time, the stories result from a long intercultural process. One of the guiding ideas of his projects is the development of those young people on St Martin who have been abandoned. There are of course cultural difficulties with this work; building relationships of trust is a long journey requiring patience. It takes him several years to integrate himself and then break the codes again, to build an authentic relationship in order to highlight this raw beauty, one detected at first glance.

Fran&ccedil;ois focuses on wanting to give truth to everyone through this work of &lsquo;face to face&rsquo;, as he likes to call it. This greatly contributes to the singularity of his work. The positive impact on the young people who took the plunge does not appear instantaneously, and yet it is inevitably present. Each of their acts is accompanied by a new confidence, an artistic imprint is engraved in their spirit. Something new for them, a real saving human exchange through this opening to art: a new door, a new perspective.

For Fran&ccedil;ois Castelain, cultural diversity is our strength, and his charismatic faces will no doubt travel the world. The first stop is this winter at La Samanna, the most luxurious resort in St Martin, now run by the Belmond group. A veritable clash of cultures, this exhibition alone makes the resort worth the stay, that and experiencing the feeling of wellbeing in this legendary place.

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Clash Culture by Fran&ccedil;ois Castelain is at La Samanna from December 15th 2021 to January 15th 2022 
www.belmond.com/lasamanna @belmond_lasamanna

Clash Culture

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