Secret Places: The secret garden of gay lovers

Jean-Baptiste Huong is a director, editor and image designer from Paris, and Secret Places is a book that tells a story through images. Jean-Baptiste Huong’s Secret Places is about special people in special places. Most of the pictures feature partially or fully naked men, gay lovers depicted in a poetic and sensitive manner.

As he says, he balanced “the right people with the right setting” and it resulted in a beautiful depiction of a secret garden, a special place to find blissful refuge, a sweet escape.

“As far as I can remember, decors have never been less important than models when it comes to my pictures. I believe that the best frames are a perfect balance between the right people and the right setting. It’s the same thing in life : sometimes, it takes a special someone to make a special moment, in a special place.

As a photographer, I’m always looking to showcase a sense – my sense – of beauty ; but then again, beauty can be found everywhere, in a diversity of bodies and spaces.

When you get that perfect combination, the result seems unreal. This book could have been called serendipity – a « fortunate happenstance ». Except that there’s no chance here : I do believe that we all have a secret garden, somewhere to seek shelter, to disappear. Whether it’s a real one, or just a state of mind. Whether we’re alone or with someone.

That’s what I tried to do in this book. Capture those moments where the right people are in the right places.
Their Secret Places.”