The New Normal Generation
In the studio, while Julia Pissaro awaits her interview, she’s glued to her phone. Even in her concentration, she has an imposing personality—she’s tall, blonde, composed, with an obvious beauty. At only 25 years old, she has the confidence of a forty-something. Her maturity contrasts greatly with her naive look.
Pissaro is in Paris for our shoot while on break from the hustle and bustle of New York City, where she attends Barnard College, the women’s liberal arts branch of Columbia University. There she’s working towards a degree in Art History and Economics. "I'm here just for a few weeks, to see my family, my friends ... I miss Paris sometimes. I have the chance to work alongside my uncle during my stay, who is a curator,” she explains.
What is most striking about Pissaro, as she answers, is her tenacity, which becomes most evident when asked about leaving everything behind to start fresh in the United States, even though she could have gone to any prestigious Parisian college of her choosing. "Although my mother is obsessed with Paris, and my father with London, I have always had a deep desire to go to New York. I literally applied to all the possible schools, both NYU, Parson, and Columbia, where I was finally accepted.”
Despite her rigid academics, Pissaro was able to indulge in all that NYC had to offer. “What I loved while studying at Barnard College was that, despite the heavy workload, we had a lot of free time. I was able to practice yoga intensively, do parallel associative activities, internships, and develop my personal projects. A few times I was photographed for the fashion section of Columbia’s magazine, but I'm not a model either!”
"I come from a family of artists (she is the descendant of impressionist painter Camille Pissaro), curators, professors of art history, but also art dealers. It's part of my heritage, of who I am. But I don’t want to take part in just the financial or education part of the art world. I want to rethink the role of art in society, as an evolutionary and constructive tool, a new proposal. "
Clothing and accessories Armani New Normal
Photograph Erick Faulkner
Styling Alizée Henot
