BEYOND THE VALLEY

Growing up in the Pays-d’Enhaut is not the most obvious starting point for a career in fashion photography. But from teaching himself photography in his bedroom in Château-d’Œx during the pandemic to photographing a Hollywood star, Dylan Jason Rochat has built his career by trusting his instincts. With a move to Barcelona planned for this autumn, he is ready to see where they take him next.

Dylan Jason Rochat has a quiet presence, the kind that reveals itself gradually. His pale blue eyes seem to take in a room, and the people in it, almost instantly. He says he has always had a natural instinct for reading people and situations. Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that he found his place behind the camera.

He belongs to a generation that has learned to trust its instincts, not only out of courage, but because life has sometimes left little choice.

Born in Château-d’Œx in 1997, Dylan was in his early twenties when the Covid-19 pandemic brought ordinary life to an abrupt halt. For some, that period became an unexpected turning point. His story has a certain parallel with that of Jordanian singer Zeyne, born the same year, who found her way into music almost by chance during the pandemic and has since emerged as one of the region’s most exciting new voices, performing across Europe. Dylan’s trajectory is different, but it too began to take shape during those unusual years.

This summer, Dylan photographed Zeyne backstage at the Montreux Jazz Festival. While most photographers worked from in front of the stage, he had access behind the scenes, capturing the quieter, more candid moments that artists increasingly use to tell their stories beyond the performance itself. It is the kind of access that comes with trust – and a sign of how far his photography has already taken him.

The road can be steeper for self-taught photographers. Dylan fell in love with analogue photography during the pandemic and taught himself everything from scratch. Once the world reopened, he had to rely on something else: nerve. Enough nerve to pursue his ambition of becoming a fashion photographer.

Perhaps that takes even more determination when you grow up in the Pays-d’Enhaut, far from the world’s fashion capitals. Dylan began taking trains to Fashion Weeks in Milan and Paris, bringing with him a sharp eye, relentless curiosity and fluent English, a language he grew up speaking thanks to his British mother.

That combination opened unexpected doors. One of them led to actress Adria Arjona. Dylan had just thirty minutes to photograph her, but it was enough to establish the trust he needed.

Opportunities to photograph established names are still relatively rare. Most of the time, Dylan actively seeks out emerging models on Instagram, building creative collaborations with young makeup artists, designers and stylists who, like him, are trying to make their mark. Together, they develop projects and use social media to bring their work to a wider audience. Despite embracing the digital world, Dylan remains deeply attached to print. Nothing compares, in his eyes, to seeing a photograph come alive on paper. His work has already appeared in Vanguard and L’Officiel magazine.

His dream no longer feels quite so distant. This autumn, he will move to Barcelona, convinced that his intuition is pointing him in the right direction and that the city will offer the opportunities he needs to take his career further.

Ask him about his dream photograph, though, and his answer may surprise you. Rather than capturing one iconic image, he dreams of publishing a photography book: a beautiful object people will want to leave on their coffee table and return to again and again. For Dylan, it seems, the next chapter is already beginning.

MARY MEYER

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