Ali B

Ali contacted me few months ago, he needed the pictures for his book.
we've met at the place he choose, the one you can see very often in my pictures. it was a cold afternoon or at least I was cold, Ali was changing his clothes and didn't seemed to mind it whereas I was shivering...
"the cold is only in your head", - he told me. I still don't know how could I live in Siberia for 16 years...

we talked at the same time as I was shooting him, it was even faster then usual. Ali has that amazing capacity to translate in the pictures his emotions in a fraction of a second and has different faces, I saw in him : at least 3 different actors, one family related member and my high-school crush. this is the other thing I don't understand : how could some people have that special something, that is visible only when the camera is pointing at them ? it's like they can take the other shapes, as if they have several beings that live inside of them. and it is not even beauty or charm it's something else, much more deeper ! and of course they are the best gift for my inner eye.
our shooting was very spontaneous I felt like I could experiment more with him, then I usually do. then we grabbed a tea together and talked about everything and nothing, it was so easy.
some meetings are really meant to be and you can feel it, even if we don't understand why at the moment...

few days later I send the pictures to Ali, as always a bit nervous : "will he like it or not ?". and now I have on my answering machine the best return about my work ever ! thank you Ali for your reaction and your words, it's etched in my head !

Lucas Saint Faust

Lucas wrote me an e-mail about a photo-shoot on a recommendation of another actor (I can't believe it's happening to me more and more often, a year ago I couldn't dream about something like that, it seemed impossible but now it's my reality) and we set a date.

we've met one cold afternoon, well cold for me I guess, because Lucas had just a t-shirt and denim jacket whereas I was wearing all warm clothes I had from my wardrobe grabbing tight a hot tea with my cold fingers. 

he was anxious because he just arrived in Paris and it was his first photo-shooting ; his eyes were wide open and wondering. he has this great actor quality : on one picture he looks 16 years old and on the next one a grown man, it's disturbingly amazing, you can't say how old is he ! 

everything went easily maybe because we share the same kind of "story", he also grew-up in another country and knows pretty well the concept of being "lost" but it's very cool in a way, because it makes the connections easier for us. and speaking about connections he spend a part of his childhood next to someone I'm seeing almost every day, the world is small and full of surprises...

François Pouron

"tant que tu n'as pas eu ce que tu veux on ne bougera pas d'ici" - François.

François is that handsome, calm, gentle, cultivated and very sensitive actor but I still can't stop myself from thinking that I would love to see him playing a role of a serial killer or a psycho ! have no idea why... as if his sweetness can fall down at once and he will become such a mean character. 

model : François Pouron, Venin Agency