Trying to distill Brian Guilliaux’s raison d’être into one word is like trying to describe Martha Graham’s body of work with a single adjective.

No singular word expresses his inherent complexity and uniqueness. Dancer, choreographer, musician, and photographer – a brief scan of Guilliaux’s resume suggests a Renaissance man of the performing and visual arts. Beneath the façade of random career chaos lies a unifying factor: an artist’s commitment to the pursuit of beauty. His journeys through dance, music and photography have all furthered that search.

Guilliaux’s search began on a seemingly tumultuous note: He dropped out of high school. A subsequent visit to his sister that day resulted in his introduction to the Director of Dance at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. He was accepted to the dance program on the spot, and Guilliaux recalls, “those few hours changed my life”.

Dance eventually led him to Europe, where he found a love for Budapest, and felt another change looming on the surface. If one trait has aided Guilliaux in his track record of success, it is his complete acceptance and enthusiasm for change. He returned to the States, and despite having no formal training, began to compose music 14 hours a day, seven days a week. “I wouldn’t even answer the phone,” said Guilliaux. Anonymous donations and a strongly worded letter from a friend who urged Guilliaux to “release the closet artist” prompted him to self-produce and market a CD of his music, which was sold throughout many countries.

Of his musical success, Guilliaux says, “it was about relationships made,” rather that a strategic career move.
He has scored ballets for dance companies, live theater productions, and several film projects. Guilliaux’s current journey- photography- seems like a natural progression for him. With no formal training, he works purely on instinct, understanding light and shadow in ways that other people spend a lifetime studying.

“Photography is, to me, everything that I’ve ever done- combined. It’s music, movement, and most definitely beauty.”
The archives of his fine art photography capture women at their most honest and revealing. “The beauty of a woman is the most amazing thing in the world to me” Guilliaux says. His pursuit of beauty continues, and in many ways, Guilliaux has unlocked the secret to capturing it.“My photography is driven by an obsession with falling in love with the details of a woman. As early as the age of 9 I remember being in awe of the subtle beauty of females. I guess you could say that I was “girl crazy”, but on a level that was way ahead of my time.”

As an artist, he is committed to discovering and revealing the undeniable beauty of every woman he photographs. This process will often make a shoot last 10-12 hours and in some instances up to 2 days. “Sometimes it takes that long to strip away all that she has hidden behind and what is finally revealed is always beautiful. My purpose is, in a sense, to be a mirror and reflect that beauty back at her- to create a space where she too will fall in love with the details.