Photographer Romain Berger Explains the Ways in Which His Work is Being Increasingly Censored

My photographic practice exists at the intersection of photography, cinema and set design. I approach each image as a scene in its own right, creating sets, characters and situations that draw as much from cinematic language as from theatrical imagery. Inspired by pop and camp aesthetics, my visual universe plays with appearances, excess, contrasts and social conventions, combining visual references with irony and tongue-in-cheek humour. Through my staged compositions, I explore themes such as desire, masculinity, power, representation and the construction of identity. The male body and queer imagery occupy an important place in this artistic exploration, not as activism, but as a means of artistic expression that questions our relationship with images, social norms, and freedom of representation. Romain Berger: Daddy cool Romain Berger: L’as de coeur After several years marked by exhibitions in France and internationally, as well as various publications, I have gradually noticed a shift in the way my work circulates and reaches its audience. Over the past two years, opportunities to exhibit and be published have become increasingly scarce, while reaching out to galleries and media outlets has grown more difficult. This has coincided with a gradual decline in my social media visibility, eventually leading to the permanent deletion of my Instagram account after eight years of activity and nearly 10,000 followers. Beyond losing a platform for sharing my work, I also lost part of the network, connections and visibility I had spent years building. Romain Berger: Make me famous Romain Berger: À fond de cale I have also experienced firsthand the restrictions that can be placed on certain forms of artistic representation. Earlier this year, an exhibition in France was cancelled just weeks before its opening because some of my photographs were considered too explicit. This experience led me to question the place currently given to images dealing with the body, sensuality and desire. While openness and diversity are widely discussed, certain forms of representation still seem to provoke suspicion, and sometimes outright rejection, particularly when they fall outside what is considered acceptable. These challenges are also part of a profoundly changing artistic landscape. The constant proliferation of images, the saturation of digital platforms, and the rise of artificial intelligence are transforming not only how work is shared, but also our relationship with creativity and the value of artistic work. For independent artists like me, developing and presenting a body of work is no longer enough. We must also find ways to exist in an environment where attention has become a scarce resource and visibility increasingly depends on mechanisms beyond our control. Despite these challenges, I have no intention of abandoning my visual universe or the subjects that shape it. I continue to create with the same desire to experiment, build distinctive images and explore alternative forms of representation. I believe it is now more important than ever to preserve spaces where artists can present work that may sometimes challenge, provoke questions, or simply fall outside established expectations. Artistic freedom should not depend on an artist’s ability to conform to dominant norms, nor on the ever-changing rules of platforms that now determine such a significant part of their visibility. Portfolio: www.thevelvetstudio.fr Instagram: @romainb_artist The post Photographer Romain Berger Explains the Ways in Which His Work is Being Increasingly Censored appeared first on QX Magazine.