Eleonore

Our paths crossed last year in a subway. I was going to meet my friends for the dinner and I took the subway line, I usually don't, to join them. She was sitting in the wagon just in front of me, the light was hitting her golden hair and her hypnotizing blue eyes, the saddest eyes I've ever seen. She looked like a fairy or some fragile magical creature trapped in the darkest place. The other thing that caught my eye, except her melancholic face, is the way she was dressed : girly doll like dress, heavy black boots and the backpack. There was something very special about her. So before I went out on my station I gave her my visit card telling that I was a photographer and was willing to make the pictures of her, she looked up on me with her big sparkling eyes and the brightest smile appeared on her face, she said something like : "oh thank you", and I stormed out of the train. I have to say it was a big step for me because it might look really creepy when strangers are showing that much of interest in someone, plus I'm pretty shy and unsure of myself. But I did it and was kind of proud.

She wrote me back few hours later, her name was Eleonore. We've decided to meet each other for a coffee. My intuition was right, she was an amazing creature : very sensitive, talented, beautiful, with an unusual past. It was very easy for us to bond. She moved out from Paris before I could take the pictures of her but we stayed in touch. And when about two weeks ago she told me she will be in Paris for few days I jumped on the occasion to make a quick photo-session with her.

It feels incredible to choose people you want to take pictures of, because usually I don't. I rarely make the pictures for myself lately because, I guess, I found it too egoistic and it seemed more appropriate to work for others. But this experience shows me that I'm wrong and that the personal work is as important as any other, or maybe even more, because it opens up your soul in a complete different way.

Corsica : part I

when my dear friend Maëlle asked me to come to Corsica with her, I wasn't sure at first... but her force of persuasion is quite strong. one of the actors of her agency was playing a leading role in an historical short movie Les Excilés in there and invited us to spend some time together.
from the first second that we arrived in Calvi we felt in love with this place, we were almost always scouted by Corsican boys who were actors or the stuff of the movie. it was amazing, we felt like princesses !

there is something very soulful about Corsican people, very deep and artistic, it made me think about russian people and my life in Siberia. I feel at home and very peaceful on that land, it's like I have a special bound that brings me back there over and over again.
I've met so many great people in just 5 days it's crazy ! we've also spend one day on filming, I even did few shots on the set of the movie without getting killed by other official photographers.
I can feel that this movie is going to be a great success because all the people that participated have huge hearts and put a lot of love in this project.

the island is also very photogenic and you feel the creative rush all the time.
we did a lot of pictures with Maëlle of each other, and thanks to her I feel a bit better in my skin. our friendship growing stronger now and even though sometimes our relationship is volcanic we love each other even more. I hope that there will be many other trips like that very soon...
those are the pictures we took of each other in the place we were staying in Calvi and also in our friend's breathtaking hotel room in Ile Rousse.

special thanks to Jeremy ♥

goodbyes

at the end of last year I had to live my beloved apartment not by choice but for the reasons not depending on me.
I can't explain how much I loved that place...

at first it wasn't my apartment at all but belonged to two armenian girls of 16 and 17 years old who took me in almost 10 years ago. back then I was in university with one of them, having no idea what am I doing here. I wasn't searching for any kind of relationships, and I wasn't even sure to finnish my studies, I always hated the studies as long as I can remember myself. but at the end Sorbonne Nouvelle brought me more than I could imagine, a true powerful friendship that lasts through the years and distance.
so those 2 sweet little girls invited me in their small apartment and we lived there together for many years and even though I kind of moved out for few years I always kept on getting back. we grew-up there, took lots of "first steps" in these walls : had our first boyfriends, first jobs, finished our education and graduated, had crazy parties, sleepless nights full of silly conversations about life and love, but also our first heartbreaks, deceptions, difficult moments but more of all we had so much fun together and laughed a lot more then we cried. these two little women, younger but stronger and more independent then me gave me a little home and were a true family to me. 
the apartment was on the ground floor, so we always had different creatures living with us. the most adorable from all was a cat that once jumped in our window early in the morning and even though he had his own house he kept on coming back, so of course I took a lot of pictures of him and named him Rascal, he grew-up on my eyes. I also did tones of pictures of other people in here.

when girls, one after another, moved out I got the apartment for myself but nothing worked out with other people I lived in, as before. many heart-breaking moments had followed until I hadn't choice but to leave...
I will always have a twinge passing in the neighborhood but I'm so grateful for all those experiences and all that happened, it build my personality and who I am now.

those are last auto-portraits that I took (I actually have a lot of good pictures taken in here but no time to search and publish, other life is waiting for me, the past will stay the past), selection of Rascal best photos, and few other miscellaneous...
all the precious memories I will keep forever in my heart, thanks for everything ♡