He was a policeman and a casino director before making a living from photography. But Franklin de Marel is not a photographer like the others. His thing is the stars from here and elsewhere. Meet the man who photographed Whitney Houston, Alpha Blondy and Alain Ramanisum.
His camera never leaves him as he has never really left Mauritius since 1982. “It is on the invitation of a friend, that the Monegasque that I am came to spend vacations in Mauritius. I fell in love with the country and its inhabitants. And since then, I have been going back and forth until I finally settled here, 10 years ago, after my marriage to a Mauritian woman.
In the tropics, Franklin will quickly make a name for himself, as was the case in Europe: “It was my mother who gave me the photography virus. She used to take pictures for advertising. I learned on the job and this passion quickly led me to photograph artists like Whitney Houston, Maurane or Alpha Blondy who is now a good friend. In Mauritius, I started with Bruno Raya, then one thing led to another and I did photos for the biggest local artists, from Lin, Jason Heerah, Laura Beg, Linzy Bacbotte, Alain Ramanisum and the list goes on,” jokes Flanklin.
Far from giving up photography, Franklin now plans to get into events: “I plan to organize concerts. If it wasn’t for Covid-19, this year I was going to bring in Alpha Blondy. I am regularly in contact with him and he is always very interested in coming to Mauritius to perform. I am also negotiating with Master KG who made a hit with his song “Jerusalema”. If everything goes well in the future, Mauritians will be able to come and see him on stage.
