I am limited to thirty-six exposures per roll. Each click is a dollar. Every frame is the result of a thinking process — an interior discussion I have with myself before I press the shutter. That discussion is what I love about photography. Constraint is what makes me creative. The digital camera removes that constraint. It also removes that conversation.

I have used the same camera and the same lens for thirty years. I know my material extremely well — and because of that, I trust it enough to bring it into unknown territory. To make it do things it was never supposed to do, technically speaking. There is always a chance factor with film. You do not fully control it. I have come to love that.

— Joachim

Photography requires a very specific state of mind. When I arrive somewhere unfamiliar, I want to discover it — to be open, curious, present. That is not compatible with the way I photograph. When I pick up my camera, everything in my mind becomes a single question: is there potential here — with this light, these shadows — to create something elegant? That is a very closed mindset. You do not want to discover a new city with that mindset. You will miss everything important about it.

Paris and New York I know very, very well. I do not need to discover them. And because I have photographed them so much, I am always searching for new ways to see them. They are an endless source of inspiration — precisely because they are not new to me.

— Joachim

I have been naturally drawn to black and white since I was ten years old. I genuinely cannot explain it — it simply feels like the right language. I am fascinated by good color photography. I find it extraordinary when it works. I just do not understand it. It does not come naturally to me the way black and white does. Some photographers see color. I see light and shadow.

— Joachim

The opposite. When you know your instrument extremely well, you can trust it. And when you trust it, you can take it somewhere new — somewhere unknown — and make it behave in ways that are not in the instruction manual. The equipment disappears. What remains is the question of what to photograph, and when.

— Joachim

I am not entirely sure yet — and I think that uncertainty is part of the series. The story is still being written. What I know is this: Puzzle is about people, but not about faces. I do not like portraits where the subject looks directly at the camera. It feels invasive to me. It closes the door. A hand, a shadow, the angle of a wrist — a detail opens the viewer's imagination rather than shutting it down. We find ourselves asking: who is this? What are they thinking? The viewer completes the photograph. I just provide the pieces.

— Joachim

When I started in the nineties, I was very drawn to absurdity. The things that don't belong where they are. The image that makes you look twice and then laugh — or think — or both. Most of these photographs came from the street, where the unexpected is always one corner away. The I-Toast series was different — I made those at home during the 2020 lockdowns, when the street disappeared and I turned to everyday objects. Absurdity doesn't require a city. It just requires attention. I still prefer the street. It's less lonely. And the walking is good for me.

— Joachim

New York is dominant, intense, dynamic, and yet very fragile. And somehow it all works. I photograph reflections on the streets of New York the same way I do in Paris — same technique, same eye. But the results are completely different. Paris produces something nostalgic, quiet, melancholic. New York produces chaos. I mean that as the highest compliment. The city refuses to hold still. Every surface multiplies it. I love New York. I have loved it for thirty years and I do not expect that to change.

— Joachim

Slowly. And with time. I have shot images twenty years ago that I did not like when I first saw them. I now realize they were good. If those photographs had been digital, I might have deleted them the same night. That is why time matters. The photograph needs distance. The photographer needs distance. Editing — selecting from your archive, deciding what tells a story, building an identity — is the most important skill in photography. More important than composition, more important than technique. We all have a good eye. Very few people have the patience to edit well.

— Joachim