It’s a man’s drone: Vincent Bedos continues the development of Occidrone

Vue sur les travaux de la passerelle, à Gignac. Occidrone – Occidrone

On the Lien construction site in the metropolis of Montpellier. Occidrone – Occidrone

Vincent Bedos. JM – JM

Travaux de nuit. Occidrone – Occidrone

Vincent Bedos, ce photographe lucianais spécialisé dans l’aérien. Son entreprise, Occidrone, spécialisée sur les prises de vue aériennes, vient de célébrer ses 5 ans.

Both feet planted on the ground, eyes in the sky. Since 2016, Vincent Bedos has been one of the French pioneers of drone piloting. A know-how that he puts at the service of a sensitive photographic eye as well as a solid technical requirement.

Lucianiais, born in Clermont-l’Hérault in 1972, he launched his company Occidrone five years ago. Through its aerial eye, this partner of communities, construction companies and civil engineering immortalizes the metamorphoses of the department: creation of the lido in Sète, tram lines of Montpellier, Gignac footbridge, construction of the d’factory ;rsquo;Valédea drinking water, in Montpellier, wind turbine installations in Port-la-Nouvelle, irrigation works…

Writing with light

The man with the drone remains a privileged witness to the transformations of the Deep South. "And I can testify, through my work, that water represents a real, big issue", he adds. Above all, this former holder of a BTS in Maintenance, who traveled to the confines of Europe as a programmer of robots in the automotive sector, retains the natural look of the photographer, it is that is to say, of the one who writes, first, with light.

"I attach a lot of importance to the artistic side and to light, for me, it’is essential" , he confides. The one who looks around, "the whole Valley" from his terrace, often goes in search of beautiful lights, bag on his shoulder , and cites Georges Souche as a reference on the subject.
A photo passion inherited from his father, who was a science teacher in Lozère, in the mid-1980s. "At the time, we lived in Langogne and my father had set up a photo club. That's where I caught the virus", remembers the man whose passion is always contagious. Black and white prints, safe light… the initiation to the photo lab will have acted as a revealer. And the wild beauty of Lozère will have propelled the neophyte into the vast expanses of the landscape in 24×36.

From motorcycle to air

As a result, "in the summer, I worked to pay for fluffs and develop slides in shimmering colors". After his studies and nine years in the automotive sector, chance gave him a chance. Or rather, at the accelerator. Because after meeting a journalist from Moto Journal, he replaced him at short notice and spent two years freelancing for Moto Crampons magazine. "That’s how I moved into professional photography." Preamble to seven more years focused on Enduro. The Trèfle Lozérien, Mecca of the discipline, definitely brings him luck. It covers 28 editions of the motorcycle race. And if this mechanical sport cultivates a clever balance between the power of machines and wild nature, years later, back home and a remote pilot diploma in hand, it is another balance that appeals to him: that construction and aerial photography. "When construction and civil engineering presented themselves to me, I immediately understood that it was for me."

And this time, it’s the CCVH that puts its foot in the door. Five years later, this Friday, January 26, Vincent Bedos celebrated the anniversary with his clients at Château Malmont. The rest ? Projects to follow throughout the Deep South, for sure. But also "a big photo project on transhumance…" And always, the light.

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