Original subtitles

You asked me, what it was like when we were small

and growing up and me looking at Brigitte,

but it's really... I... I love and I admire her...

and I'm really fascinated by the way she works and what she sees.

You know, it's always exciting to be part of what she does,

because she's curious about everything, she's passionate

and so focused and...

it's really fun!

- You are recording, Lynne, also? - Yes!

Oh, good, because that's the most interesting part...

I think we should have some interaction and maybe my voice can be on it,

because it's like a portrait together and it's a portrait of sisters.

- Exactly. - And it's a portrait of looking.

Or maybe we're just finding out what the hell it is...

It's true, it's true.

I've never done something like this before...but that's kind of exciting.

I photograph everything.

I mean, it's really alarming, because it's like a total addiction.

I'm interested in anyone

and I love that you will be the one doing the casting,

because then you present me with...

- So it's, like, equally our thing. - Yeah.

Lynne, you may want to do your casting

as only people that really mean something to you,

As opposed to people that are interesting looking.

Because you seem to be... you spoke about your sister.

I mean, people you know and you are interested in,

- maybe that should be your casting. - Yeah.

Sometimes you meet someone and you have this intense, intense thing

and then you never see them again.

OK, Lynne, stay here, stay here.

Stay here. Yeah.

Yeah.

Lynne!

Sorry!

- OK. - It's super funny, though!

- So, Lynne, go back, very, very still. - OK.

Very still and very, like, strong...

- Strong from your lower back. - OK.

- Very stll and take a good breath. - OK.

Yeah, exhale.

And then relax everything, and then very, very direct, very strong.

OK, yes, good, stay there.

Beautiful.

Beautiful. Stay there.

Mm.

- Yeah, good. - I'm learning something.

Good, strengthening your lower back.

Yeah, it's always...

I always think that you need to be really grounded.

- Like, really solid on your feet. - Yeah.

It's so funny, because, I can tell, even if I see only that.

I can tell if your feet are really grounded.

No, it's so true and I have a terrible tendency to hunch like this.

But as soon as...

The only thing, it's a complete mystery, as you know, portraits...

but as soon as you...

It's a mixture of being, like, really, really...

A certain tension and complete relaxation.

And I think if you're grounded on the floor,

your feet, strong lower back, that's the tension part

and, after that, when you breathe, then you can relax.

I mean, but it all comes by doing it again and again and again.

- So, let's start again. - Let's start again.

Yeah, good.

I mean, it's really a collaboration.

It has to be that you meet each other.

And, to me, I don't want to impose anything on the person.

I want them to give me...

I want them to give me what they are willing to give me.

And so I don't want to direct anything.

Where you direct, it's like you put them

in the situation that you want.

and you control that before it starts,

so, the lights, the space, the sound,

I mean, everything. You control everything, before.

Look at me.

Yes, good. Look at me.

To this day, I can never...

I'm always get happy and excited with doing a portrait,

because every single time, it's something different.

It's never, to me, repetitive.

You know, and it's, every time, it's to find yourself.

It's really just you and the person you're photographing.

It cannot be more intimate than that.

If I come a wee bit more XXX,

- it might help a wee bit, you know... - Yeah. Yeah. OK.

- Take the space. - OK.

- Take the space. - Yup.

From the back. Pay no attention to me. From the back.

Wait, it's on 400. It should be 320.

Yes, these are beautiful. Very beautiful.

- She's got an amazing face. - Yeah.

That's beautiful. It looks like a Derek Jarman film.

It as intimidating and as exhilirating

as much for the photographer or the film-maker

as for the person that is the subject.

But when it starts, it's really...

I am here to receive.

And somehow Marian does the same,

except there is a true conversation.

And you see, you know, you understand...

and you know that, because it's in your film,

if it's a true moment.

Or at least true to you, if it's genuine or not.

And some people cannot actually do it, because they are too closed...

- or they are too... - Guarded.

Guarded, yeah. But most...

Or they want control everything, maybe?

Yes, they also want to control everything, yeah.

Keep your eyes up.

Like, yeah... Stay there.

Yeah, stay there. Wow, stay there.

Beautiful.

Yeah, OK.

Yes, stay there. Beautiful.

Stay there, stay there.

Quick, quick, quick.

OK, goodbye.

We spent not much time growing up together,

because Brigitte left home when she was very young.

And you left when you were 17, 18, and I was younger.

And then we shared a room when we were kids and we...

- But when we were really small. - Yeah.

But then we really got to enjoy being together

and meeting all the time.

We also have a different relationship when we work

- and when we just... we're together.

But we have a really good relationship when we work. We really do.

Yes, it is very trustful.

But it's the kind of relationship that you have, like,

so deep, so deep, so deep, that you are also not careful sometimes.

I mean, in my case, I'm not careful.

You know, because, you know, we love each other, so...

I mean, it is, like, something that's so beyond, beyond question.

That's the only relationship l have like that,

because I don't have people in my...

I mean, I stopped having relationships a long time ago.

So I have extraordinary friendships, but it's still different.

The connection you have with someone in your family

is different, it is deeper in a different way.

I've got two sisters and it seems like there's more conflict.

We love each other, but it's just like...

I think the fact that we're all quite control freaks or something,

like, it makes it kind of like a crazy relationship.

One thing I was interested in, in terms of this film,

was, like, just how people stay together and how they fall apart.

What does it really mean to be sisters?

Because it makes me really sad, because we were so close as kids.

You know, I was, like, one and a half years older,

and so I would always look after her and she looked up to me.

She always copied, like, what I wore and stuff

But it's a super complex relationship.

Ready? Are you ready? Yeah.

OK, good. Stay there, Lynne. That a breath. Take a breath.

I started to wear a uniform on my first trip to Japan.

I really don't look at myself very much. In the same way, I wear the uniform.

In a way, it is supreme confidence.

My friends and people that know me,

I mean, they've seen me the same every day for the past 25 years.

It's insane, in fact.

But I feel completely fine with that

and I feel like I'm perfectly...

Yes, to be well with yourself, I think, in the choice you've made.

But it's, like, at least 15 or more years,

you know, and, ever since, I'm wearing the same shirt, skirt and...

And then I started to be insanely attached to my glasses.

But on the other hand,

I really appreciate all these women and girls that love to dress,

because, for me, it's fun to see.

I enjoy it for them but I'm not interested for myself.

Do you find that liberating?

Oh, of course. Of course.

I mean, I think it's maybe also a sign of misguided overconfidence,

you know, like, you don't have to bother about, like, pleasing people.

You know, you don't have to perform for them.

You are what you are and they are going to take you as you are, no matter what.

When I was a kid, I really liked wearing my own clothes.

Like, I'd wrap bandages around my head and make a bow or a hat or crazy things.

And I think the more I go back to my own style, that I like, just be me,

the more I feel comfortable, you know,

- like I'm not putting a mask on. - Yeah.

Are we smiling or unsmiling?

Maybe we start... Yes, that's nice, with one of the sleeves up.

I see the two... Yeah, exactly!

Lynne and I go back almost 30 years.

I may need to go back there, because...

We bonded over our first experiences of film-making

as film students and became great friends...

and worked together for many, many years after that.

It is really hard to say what's more important

friendship or a creative collaboration.

I may need the black here.

We started very much with both.

She became very intense...

and we discovered that maybe it was easier to preserve

a friendship if we didn't necessarily work with each other.

So, that's what we did.

The good stool that I like and another one.

Yes, should have gave it a bit of the old...

So, now I'm just going to do a close... Like, a real close-up.

No worries.

- But it looks very nice. - Yeah, thanks very much.

- So are you very Scottish? - Aye. Very Scottish.

- My name's Lauren. - Jack.

We used to go out with one another.

And look at me, both of you.

We used to be in a relationship.

There's too much history.

Without the coat. Yeah, OK.

Yeah, let's see.

OK. And then let me see if you throw your coat too.

We've always got that...the imprint of it.

Beautiful.

I was always in love with men that were actually...

because I'm incredibly controlling and possessive.

I guess maybe a simple way to say that I never

graduated, emotionally, to, like, a true, true relationship.

So, it's not about romance, it's not about the idea,

it's not about the intoxication of being infatuated with someone and in love.

I've never, like, passed that stage where you are actually in a relationship,

you are really looking at each other and accepting each other,

and with all the disappointments that it can be.

And then just to accept to be seen.

OK, good, thank you. Perfect. Goodbye, goodbye.

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.

All the things that I was incapable of in a relationship,

in intimacy, I transferred everything in my work.

In my way of having relationships through the work.

In that part, I'm completely available

and completely, 100% there, and only with good intentions.

I feel everything profoundly,

that's why I think I can be a very good portrait photographer.

Because that's it, it's my uniform, and I never have to look at myself.

I think the best thing that you can say,

at this point in my life, is that I don't have regret of...

You know, I don't feel the longing for that,

or that I did not do the path you don't take.

Yeah, beautiful. Lynne, just take a little more room. Yeah, good, good.

- Yeah. I'll try. - Beautiful.

What about the cape? Is that perfect, the cape?

How is it? Because I cannot see the light on with this.

It's beautiful.

And then you can... We'll do just a tiny bit more

and then you can change anything.

- OK. - It's pretty.

- Are we finished? - Not yet.

Oh.

- It's going to take a little longer. - OK, good.

So, everybody can move whenever they want.

I need up, a box.

Let me see, Georgie, if you bring your hand around here.

- Beautiful. - Hug me.

Yes, good, good, good. So, that's fine.

- I think you need to give me half a box. - Half? Sure.

And, Sasha, come down slightly with your... Yes.

Yes, stay there, stay there.

And go down slightly with... Yeah. Too much.

And take a good breath too.

- Yeah, OK. - It was almost, like, a surprise...

I thought I was having early menopause. I was, like...

Georgie, relax everything, your shoulders. Relax your shoulders, yes.

As if you were lying down, underwater.

The work kind of becomes everything when you do it, you know.

Luckily I've got a great man, who is like Mum and Dad, sometimes.

I think if you are in a relationship,

like you are, and suddenly that happens,

if it had happened to me, I might've done the same thing,

- I might have kept... - Yeah, yeah.

And then a different path.

It's very nice when you hold your hand like that.

Yes, it is beautiful.

Because friendship is a very big part of my life also,

and I get so much from the friendships,

so I think it's enough for what I need, you know?

- Yeah. - Daddy, daddy, daddy.

Tired?

Oh, no.

Friends, more important.

'Cause even we act not like father and daughter, we're more like friends.

Yes, my darling? Mm-hm, it is.

- Fairy Queen. - Fairy Queen.

- Do I have three chocolates? - Totally! Totally!

- Do I have three chocolates? - Yes, of course.

So, let me come in closer and we'll do the daylight.

- Too heavy! - Pardon?

- Can you carry me? - Keep moving, keep moving.

Yeah, good.

Well, I feel that Brigitte is the person that I love the most

in my life, and that I trust and I can count on her.

Yeah, but we don't speak a lot.

We are from the kind of family where you don't speak a lot of...

We don't actually speak much about the important things.

You understand things, in the best cases,

but you don't... because we never discuss the most...

It's very hard to discuss the very profound, difficult things.

But it can also be too much...

- Too much. - ..Too close...

Too close, to not speak as much, at all.

- We've always been... - We've always been close.

We've always been close.

We talk to each other more.

Yeah, and we actually get along.

- The love... - Yeah.

The love that we give to each other.

Why would I lie on the floor? You lie on the floor.

I couldn't....

Yeah, I couldn't live without her, to be honest with you.

- We're not like the others. - Yeah.

Yeah, definitely. I agree.

Because I went in '75, '76, '77.

When he started working, she was not living at home any more.

I was still going to school and...

Marian was a great student, and I was a high school drop-out.

She went back and forth between the United States and France.

The very first trip was to New York, and that I remember,

the impression arriving on the Williamsburg Bridge,

and the noise that the car makes.

I remember the sound of the fax, because with the time difference,

it would always arrive in the middle of the night,

and that kind of would wake me up.

I always took snaps, for sure, all the time.

I had the camera my father gave me, a Nikon F.

It was always, like, sharing things that we saw, and that we liked,

and that we wished we were together, so we could talk about it.

I was with my mentor, who was a photographer

and I was her assistant.

We always met some places.

We communicated a lot.

- You must come too. - Images, e-mails.

But that was the way it was.

One of us had to sleep in the bathtub, you know.

I understand your passion for travelling.

À bientôt, and let's meet soon, entre curieux - between curious people.

I think you should be here too.

The first trip? New York, December 5, 1992.

1992.

Good morning. Good night. Missing you. Brigitte.

P.S. I think of you.

Brigitte, Brigitte? I'm thinking of you.

I always wanted to be a part of what he was doing.

I was always looking up to her.

Yes, she included me in everything that she was doing.

And she still does.

I mean, she shares her friends with me all the time

and that's really very precious.

I know we are very lucky, I have to say,

because also we are both by ourself, you know, in our lives.

So, it's, like, such a very strong, vital connection.

But did you connect with your sister at the end?

Most likely you will find it, Lynne.

I mean, time has to go by a little bit.

but most likely you will find each other.

Hello?

Hello?

Probably because they are only daughters,

they really connected.

Marian is the one I'm the closest to.

We spend more and more time together.

I mean, it's more likely we'll be together for the rest of our life, basically.

And right now they feel very close and like to spend time with each other.

I don't know, I just think of her as part of my very deep life.

I cannot see anything, I can't.

It's just mad.

I don't remember... Do you remember having your own camera?

Yes. The first thing that our father did was to give me a camera.

I mean, not as a kid, but as soon as I decided to not go to school.

You started working right away.

Yes. But I did not learn one thing about technical things,

but I learned everything about being in the moment, really looking.

Like, all the things that matter,

because, I mean, for the kind of thing I do, or, I think, you do,

it has nothing to do with the technique or with your camera.

And actually, I barely consider myself a photographer.

I was enjoying watching you looking.

I think I quite miss that intimacy of the one-on-one.

And it made me realise how much I missed that way of...

when you're a photographer you're always looking for a picture,

you don't even think twice.

If I decide one day to stop,

I think I would be very fine not taking one more picture in my life.

But as I'm in it, as I'm living in it, it's almost like if I don't document...

It's my way of seeing, it's my way of relating

and also my way of relating to people.

And your excuse, a way to be present.

But it has very little to do with actually being a photographer, I think.

Finish your photographs and go, "Goodbye!"

Oh, you mean goodbye?

- You always say goodbye at the end! - Oh, yeah, goodbye!

Oh, yes, yes. OK. OK, hold on.

- OK, Lynne? - Yeah?

Goodbye.

Let's sing and play.

Her glasses are so cool.

I just feel like I'm dressed up and Daniel's not.

The thing that starts an argument is... socks.

She's very noticeable. Can't forget her.

How are you doing?

I didn't repeat it word-for-word.

- It's like a mantra. - But are you happy?

Sorry about this. My trousers have twigs in them.

- I'm just taking them out. - Charlie, have you go a safety pin?

My younger brother, he's... Yeah, he's a little... He's a little shit.

He's sorry for me because I was the black sheep.

I'm 17 now and you're 21.

I like to dress like a boy.

I like fur and glitter.

Look at me and my sister!

I don't know, I just remember seeing just a little girl running around

making loads of noise.

- Then I got involved "Hey, stop it!" - Your toenails have to match your hands.

I believed I was this monster.

And now, I'm just... Yeah, I'm just Vic.

Yes, I was so close to blocking her. So close to blocking her number.

- Rebelda. Rebelda. - She wouldn't leave me alone!

No, I remember the last time I fell in love.

"I've been breast-feeding Brigitte for the last 200..."

Can you say that again?

He always nicks my clothes because, as I said, I like men's clothes.

- I did my boyfriend's make-up. - Goodbye, Lynne!

And I took pictures of it. And I did contouring.

♪ Had myself a pity party

♪ I didn't call anyone Except all of my problems

♪ That's who I am

♪ Made myself a cup of tea

♪ Made room for misery, Lord

♪ Why is the enemy me? ♪

- Get quite close together. - Not too close.