Jacques de Selliers
Jean-Michel Jarre concerts

Photos: Burning Man: 2018 • 2016 - 2013 • Jean-Michel Jarre's concerts • Australia 2009: Cities - Landscapes - Wildlife
Portugal • Julie • Industrial • Sculpture Garden • Helsinki • Pori Jazz Festival • Touraine
Minerale in Dour & Magasin4 • Hippotherapy center and pony-club "Les Rênes de la Vie"
About my photos • Copyright info • Français
 

I lived in Houston from may 1984 till april 1987. On April 5 1986, when Jean-Michel Jarre played his huge concert "Rendez-vous Houston" on the west end of downtown, my photographer friend George O Jackson Jr and I organized all the logistics to go and shoot it from the best viewpoint in Sabine Park.

Photos of Jarre's "Rendez-vous Houston" concert:

George O's photos of Rendez-vous Houston where primed by Jarre. Therefore, I got to meet Jean-Michel Jarre, who saw my photos and liked them too. From there on, he invited George O Jackson and I to shoot his following mega-concerts. The first one was Rendez-vous Lyon in France on October 5, 1986, at the occasion of the visit of Pope Jean-Paul II, which I shot with George O.

Photos of Jarre's "Rendez-vous Lyon" concert:

The next Jarre concert was Destination Docklands in London on 9 and 10 of October 1989, under pouring rain.

Photos of Jarre's "Destination Docklands" concert:

Then came Jarre's mega-concert Paris La Défense on the 14th of July 1990, which could be seen over miles into the Champs Elysées. Later, Jean-Michel Jarre did the "Europe in Concerts" tour in 1993. It was a series of smaller (but still great) outdoor concerts in 14 European cities. I shot the one in Brussels Heysel Park (Aug. 24, 1993) and in Versailles (Sept. 24, 1993 - but I lost all photos).

Versailles was the last Jarre concert I could find the time to shoot in the 20th century. But 17 years later, during Jarre's 2010 indoor tour, I made a come-back and shot pictures of his concert in Liège.

Photos of Jarre's 2010 concert in Liège:

Recently I retrieved my photos of Jean-Michel Jarre's older concerts I could put my hands on. Unfortunately many of them were lost during my moves or got damaged in storage. However some are still OK - digitized on this site for you to enjoy! Click on the links below to view them.

Photos of Jean-Michel Jarre's concerts:
Liège 2010 • Rendez-vous Houston 1986 • Rendez-vous Lyon 1986
Destination Docklands 1989 • Paris La Défense 1990 • Brussels Heysel 1993
All photos • About my photos • Copyright info
 

Three of Jarre's concerts held a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest "rock concert" in history:

• First, Paris La Concorde in 1979 (1 million people);
• Then Rendez-vous Houston in 1986 (1 to 1.5 million people);
• Finally, Paris La Défense in 1990 (2.5 million people).

I generally arrived onsite two or three days before Jean-Michel Jarre's concerts and had a full access badge. So during the rehearsals, I was on stage shooting photos of Jarre and his musicians. For the day of the concert, I had selected the most suitable location to shoot global views. I always used simultaneously two or three cameras with different lenses and two tripods. This was needed to get different view angles and because several second exposures are needed to properly capture the richness of the fireworks.

Many of my photos of Jean-Michel Jarre's concerts were used by press agencies (such as SIPA Press and Stills) and to illustrate some of Jean-Michel Jarre's books. Also, two of my photos made the Lyon's cover of his Houston-Lyon album. And recently, several of my photos were used to illustrate a Jean Michel Jarre´s biography book in Brasilian "O Homem Que Faz a Luz Dançar" (The Man Who Makes the Light Dance) by Renato Mundt. Also, they were used as a basis for a photo exhibition organized in Sao Paulo by Renato Mundt for Jean-Michel Jarre's 60th birthday.

I welcome using or reproducing my photos under some conditions.

Photos of Jean-Michel Jarre's concerts:
Liège 2010 • Rendez-vous Houston 1986 • Rendez-vous Lyon 1986
Destination Docklands 1989 • Paris La Défense 1990 • Brussels Heysel 1993
All photos • About my photos • Copyright info