Laurent Stoop grew up in Lausanne. Early on, he became a frequent visitor to the Cinémathèque suisse (Swiss National film archives) where he discovered among other things the Cinéma Vérité of Jean Rouch and Chris Marker, as well as the Nouvelle Vague and famous French directors like Godard, Lelouch and Truffaut.
«I have always said that in order to make this kind of movies, you must cry with one eye and with the other you must check the amount of film still available. One half of your brain focuses on feelings and the other half on technique, and this happens simultaneously.»
Michel Brault
He was also greatly influenced by exhibits at the Musée de l’Elysée, the Museum of photography in Lausanne, and generally by his discovery of the art of photography. He was impressed above all by street photographers who travel the world and try to decipher it without artefacts but with sensitivity and commitment. For him, being «on the road», as were Jack Kerouac and Robert Frank, soon became a way of life. It is about choices one has to make to understand the world and to reproduce it in the spirit of Frank. Would it be journalism or rather photography? At any rate, he dreamed of a life comparable to a road movie. Traveling would open the doors to understanding the world. During an extended trip through South America, his decision matured to focus on image and photography.
«Robert Frank, with that little camera held in one hand, sucked a sad poem right out of America onto film, taking rank among the tragic poets of the world.»
Jack Kerouac
After studies in humanities at Geneva University and a workshop at the London School of Photography, he successfully passed his diploma of photography at CEPP in Lausanne (Centre d’enseignement photographique professionnel). In 1989, he travelled to Berlin when the Wall came down. He covered the event as a freelance photographer and met with young Russian artists. When the Soviet Union crumbled, he quite naturally moved to St. Petersburg.
Fascinated not only by the historical upheaval under way but also by the Russians and their culture, he starts an intense collaboration with the agency LOOKAT PHOTOS (Zurich). His pictures are published in Switzerland and several other countries. Working for the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) in North Ossetia and Tadjikistan, and later on in Chechnya, he is confronted with war zones. In 1995, with his two mentors, Thérèse Obrecht and Christoph Mueller, he starts filming for the Swiss TV Corporation in Russia. He later creates his own company, Mayak Film. During the following ten years of intense activity in the former Soviet Union, he deepens his know-how, be it in the field of news or documentaries shot for channels like TF1, France 2, France 3, France 5, ARD, ZDF and the BBC.
In 2005, five years into the reign of Vladimir Putin – and the curtailing of human rights and democratic freedom – he sets up shop in Zurich. He pursues his collaboration mainly with SRF, France 2 and Arte, shooting news stories and documentaries all over the world and meeting personalities like Anna Politkovskaya, Mikhael Khodorkovsky, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela, Al Gore, Nicolas Sarkozy. As DOP (Director of Photography) he shoots politically committed documentaries films like: The Dove from Chechnya, Letter to Anna, Bottled Life, Citizen Khodorkovsky. These award-winning films are shown in movie theatres as well as at festivals in Berlin, Prague, New York, Beijing, Rio de Janeiro etc.
Today, Laurent Stoop’s ambition is to continue taking risks by shooting films, which go to the roots of events, combining strong emotions with a distinctive narrative and visual style.