On Friday 05 May I had a rendezvous with Christophe Jacquet alias Toffe at his studio in the quiet fourteenth arrondissement of Paris.

The studio space was a meticulously organised room with large windows overlooking a peaceful garden retreat.

Christophe has created an uncompromising and unique body of work that resembles that of a visual artist. He works alone occasionally calling on collaborators if he needs assistance.

Christophe has worked on a diverse range of projects many of which have had an involvement with Arab culture. Some of his most notable print work has been for the Centre Culturel Français d’Alger. One of his more recent projects was a monograph of the French poet Jean Sénac who spent much of his life in Algeria.

The publication is a compelling and unusual document that Christophe described as a book with two distinct parts. The recto pages of the book document the life and work of Sénac and Christophe explained that he designed these pages to be functional and almost like reportage in their delivery.