When we think of a portrait project, we often imagine a classic photo shoot: the photographer sets the light, says: “Lower your chin, please?”, click, “Next!”. But personally, I like it different. When the Happening Marketing organizing committee approached me, I knew it would be anything but classic. We had 15 people to photograph individually and as a group, and an introductory video of the members to film. All this in a fairly limited timeframe.
At our first inspiration meeting, the client shared a lot of reference visuals – especially on the photo side. The challenge was to translate all this into motion for the video. We were going to be two creators: Nicolas Breyel on video, and me on photography. This kind of collaboration requires real alignment. Not just visual style, but also in the way the participants are led, the rhythm of the shoot and energy management.
To make sure we were following the same artistic direction, here’s what we did: we took the OC members one by one and worked with them on their poses and expressions. As soon as one person finished their portraits with me, she went straight to video. Same pose, same energy, same coaching. By working like that, we were able to keep a close visual consistency without exhausting the participants. It was a first experience in front of the camera for some, so we wanted the session to be fluid and reassuring.
The classroom where we were shooting had been lent to us for the whole day, but we exceeded our own expectations and wrapped up in just 5 hours. The OC lent itself to the game with a beautiful openness, despite the natural stress of being in front of a camera. That’s another reason why I put so much emphasis on coaching: our job is to make it accessible, human and natural. By combining our strengths, Nico and I were able to offer a fluid experience and a final rendering where you never get the feeling that there were two creators behind the lens. Thank you for your confidence in us for another year!
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