Dancer Alanna Archibald, Janina and Conor Walmsley
Director of photography Clément de Hollogne
Music Claude Salmieri

A manifesto in movement, Julien Vallon directs a visual open letter on the destructive impact of past generations

In the current state of permacrisis, the way out follows no easy trajectory. And yet, as issues of environmental depletion, civil unrest, and political instability occupy minds on a daily basis, maintaining the resilience to rise against it all presents a source of hope for the future.

Picturing the future of humanity through the eyes of the young generation left to pick up the pieces, WHAT COMES NEXT reflects on a world broken by consumerism and greed, casting shadow over the remnants of abundance stripped by those who came before. Directed by Julien Vallon, the film takes the shape of a visual open letter, written from today’s unwitting activists to the unthinking elders who secured the state of the world as we know it. Through biting words and impassioned movement – embodied by renowned dancers, Diablo Premier and Stala Muerte – Vallon’s film manifests as a searing commentary on destructive forces initiated in the 20th century: entitlement over the material, and over the planet, and its resources.

“It is a manifesto in images, on our future, on our humanity. The one we have left to live, because it is too late for the faults of our parents. They shut their eyes. Ours are wide open. It is a film about the hope we have left. What can we still believe in today? In ourselves. Because our future is taking shape now.”

Developing a unique way of capturing movement and lensing the human form through his fashion photography, Vallon projects his manifesto through soaring panoramas of a land left empty, while the dancers’ movements interpret the urgency of each word. Painted against a stark landscape, as we enter a new chapter, WHAT COMES NEXT depicts a generation seeking hope within hopelessness, creating a positive force through which to overturn the situation they’ve been dealt, and rewrite the destiny of a world in decline. 

When I saw you, I didn't want to capture the surface of things, but what was behind it. With you, I didn't want to capture space, but time. Because space is a shape, time is a story. I devoured your body, I tracked down the beginning of your life. There was always only one thing to shoot: your body and its cry. Then your nudity lost its sexual significance in favor of a new visibility, beyond the masculine and feminine. Other territories.

I didn't want to capture the surface of things, but what was behind it. 

I didn't want to capture space, but time. 

Because space is a shape, time is a story. 

I tracked down the beginning of your life. 

There was always only one thing to shoot: 

Then your nudity lost its sexual significance in favor of a new visibility,

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Julien Vallon is a French visual artist whose practice examines the essence of our identity through our bodies. He has made a name for himself with works that celebrate movement and form. Julien's work is regularly exhibited and is part of prestigious museum collections. 

Attracted by the narrative and emotional scope of cinema, he has directed several award-winning short films and is currently working on his first feature. 

Julien listens to people's bodies, capturing a precise movement, an attitude, and proposes a reflection on our contemporary lives and their histories. Every gesture becomes a word, every movement a sentence. The idea that the body can translate thoughts and feelings, that it expresses itself as a language made up of attitudes and rhythms, defines Julien's visual quest. 
He is a fervent advocate of women's empowerment and representation in the industry. His work often challenges societal norms, celebrating diversity and breaking conventional boundaries.

ABOUT

Julien's work is now part of the collections of several museums:

Contemporary Art Center, Villa Noailles, Hyères

Permanent Collections

2023 Group Show Museo delle Culture MUDEC, Milano
2022 Group Show International Biennal of Contemporary Photography, Clermont-Ferrand
2021 Group Show PhotoVogue Festival, Milano
2020 Group Show Fashion and Photography International Festival, Villa Noailles, Hyères
2018 Group Show Paris Photo Festival, Paris
2017 Group Show Saint-Germain Photo Festival, Paris
2016 Group Show Havas Gallery, Les Rencontres d’Arles
2014 Group Show FramephotoVogue, Gallery Vogue Leica, Milano

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2015 Solo Show Premier Regard Gallery, Paris

Selected Exhibitions

2023 Iris Van Herpen, Sculpting The Senses, Lannoo
2023 The New Stijl, Mendo
2022 The Collection of the Museum at FIT, Taschen
2021 The World Within, Hangar Editions
2020 35e Festival International de Photo, Editions Villa Noailles
2020 +Photographie, Acquisitions Collections Publiques, Bec Editions

selected publications

2023 Tant qu'il y aura des hommes, by Julia Molkhou
2023 Nowness, by Katie Metcalfe
2022 Corridor Elephant, by Georges Dumas
2021 The Eye of Photography, by Alison Stieven Taylor
2016 Vogue.it, by Alessia Glaviano
2015 It's Nice That, by Maisie Skidmore
2015 The Eye of Photography, by Andy Romanoff

INQUIRIES

ABOUT

Permanent Collections

Selected Exhibitions

selected publications

Press

Long Walk

the long walk

Fluid State

Bulgari

Villa Noailles

You have one message

you have one message

Trafic

Portraits

empire of green

summer bodies

North Island

territories

Summer Tale

Last day

Variations

What comes next

faces

Rodin e la danza

Alaïa Editions

Iris van Herpen

Alaïa Editions

Shoes A-Z, Taschen

Mugler

Flesh of Gods

Schiaparelli

Tahar Rahim

Nameless Dance

Innoncent Age

Laetitia Casta

Blue Hour