Portrait
The same rigor, in today's clothes or in period costume.
Whether you wear your everyday clothes or a costume from another era, every portrait is made with the same film rigor: the same light, the same grain, the same refusal of passing fashion. Only what you wear changes — never the way I photograph you.
The contemporary portrait
An individual, couple or family portrait, in a personal setting — at your home, in the atmosphere of a photographer's studio, or outdoors, whatever suits you. Every session is built to reveal something true, not merely to produce a polished picture.
For professional use, the same rigor applies: a communication portrait that stands out from generic photographs.
The period-costume portrait
This same rigor lends itself particularly well to an exercise that digital struggles to imitate: recreating the look of a portrait from another era, not through a filter applied afterwards, but through the medium itself — the same grain, the same way of capturing light that studio photographers already used at the time.
In costume, you can be photographed in the spirit of a specific period:
- Turn of the century (1900-1920): studio portraits from the Belle Époque or during the First World War.
- The interwar years (1920-1939): elegant individual or family portraits.
- The wartime period (1940-1945): civilian portraits as they were made at the time, far from any military staging.
- The post-war years, up to the 1960s.
This approach draws directly on my personal work documenting the memory of the Liberation: I know the dress codes, poses and studio conventions specific to each period, beyond the costume itself. The costume remains your responsibility; if you don't have one, I can point you toward living-history associations I work with.
Seeing examples before you decide
Even photographs nearly twenty years old involve the right to the image of the people photographed: I cannot publish them without consent that remains valid over time. I am happy to show you my portfolio of period-costume portraits in person, at a first meeting.
How a session works
A first conversation helps identify your needs: use of the image, desired mood, location and time constraints. The session itself takes place on black-and-white film, in natural light or in studio depending on the project.
Your portraits are delivered as traditional film prints, in A5, A4 or A3 size (roughly 6×8, 8×12 or 12×16 in), made in the darkroom. The negatives are also scanned in high resolution, solely for quick viewing purposes, alongside the prints. The film negative remains the original archive of your images.
Who it's for
Individuals wanting a portrait that truly looks like them, couples, families, professionals and freelancers needing a communication portrait that stands out from generic photography, but also genealogy enthusiasts wanting a portrait to place alongside photographs of ancestors, and living-history associations needing portraits of their members in period dress.
A studio that comes to you
I travel with a complete portable studio (lighting, backdrop) to your home, your workplace, or any location of your choice. You never need to travel to a studio: the quality of light and the result stay the same, wherever the session takes place.
Practical details
Sessions are held in Wallonia, Brussels, throughout France and in French-speaking Switzerland — and, for period-costume or genealogy projects, further afield, including in the United States, on request. Duration, number of prints and timelines are agreed together beforehand, in a quote tailored to your project.
No examples published on this site
Portraits involve the right to the image of the people photographed: I do not publish any example without explicit consent. References can be shown at our first meeting. Learn more.