This quote of Dolly Parton encapsulate quite well why I needed to take a such a break this summer. After a whirlwind of work from May to July, my brain wasn’t functionning anymore. I had no energy to pour into anything aside being with friends. It was such an intense work period, it got me overstimulated and it took a while for my brain to slow down, appreciate stillness and be able to focus on specific tasks again. I felt a need to be living life after making a living.

So while I was off writing, I was very much on living, and had one of the busiest summer I ever had !

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July kicked off with a weekend spent at la Douve music festival shooting for its last edition. Had a blast discovering artists, taking pictures for 48 hours straight, being with friends and dancing in the warmth. I adore being trusted for my vision and sent off to take pictures on my own. Probably what I find the most inspiring and exciting. If all jobs could be “we want you to capture the essence of this in your own way” and then you’re on your own observing light, movement, energy, people, … As it was my second time shooting the festival, this year I knew quite a lot of people there, which made it feel like two days of camp. Wandering around always coming across someone, spend an hour together, go our separate ways to take pictures, eat with whoever was around for catering, sleep in tents. It was the perfect way to launch summer.

Came back to Paris, only to leave again for my first time at the Arles Photography Festival. For the past three years I wanted to go but always pushed back, always a little anxious to go without knowing much people. But since my effort to connect and bond with more creative around me are starting to pay and I’m building myself a new circle of creative friends, this year I felt like I would find my place there. It happens that my friend Melodie is a very organized queen, so she had booked an apartment way in advance. I joined her and with an extra spot on our hand, Valeria, that I met earlier this year, joined the crew to form a cool group of girls to go explore the festival.

I’ve been meeting creative and determined women this year and it’s probably one of the most inspiring thing there is. It keeps me up my game when the energy is low and I lack drive. One deep conversation and it feels like I’m back on track.

We spent our days at exhibitions, and evenings dancing in the warmth of yet another heatwave. It was an inspiring 3 days of seeing pictures of all kinds. I’ll share my favourites in the culture consumption of this summer.

Came back to Paris, went to a surprise concert almost straight off the train. One of Nicolas Jaar’s experimental groups. A good way to finish this week of listening to so much music and dancing everyday.

It was still heatwave mode in Paris at this time, so it means survival mode, trying to sleep at night and endlessly sweating all day.

It didn’t stop my friend Juliette to take me on another bike adventure. This one was meant to be doomed. Car battery was dead, so we had to improvise a new itinerary, we biked to a train in the heat, almost took the train the wrong way, finally arrived and 5 minutes into the actually nice biking part, I got a flat tire. Mind you with all those issues it was already around like 5pm, we had what we needed to fix the tire, but forgot the pump, so we ended up looking for a bike shop to help us. Found it, fixed the issue and by 6pm we were finally actually biking. We didn’t bike that much, but this crazy day seemed like a good excuse to not go to harsh and quickly jump in the river for a well deserved dip.

Next days were more chill. Went for an ice cream at my favourite spot, JJ Hings. Finally got to skate again after maybe 3 years. Getting into skate this “late” in life is a humbling experience. Skating implies falling, and contrary to being 12, there’s un undeniable fear of falling once you’re older. But still love that I’m finally doing it. Figured out a few girls around me also wanted to either get back into skating or simply start, which made me happy I shared because maybe this can turn into some kind of girl skating gathering??? We’ll see.

I took the time to go back into the darkroom to handprint some pictures shot during my countryside escape during the “first heatwave”.

And it was time to leave again to visit my friends in Marseille. We spent the weekend between the beach, the restaurants, improvised a little hike to a beach and a restaurant with friends we hadn’t seen in a while. Sun, laugh, sea, tanning, good food. Also saw my friend’s 10 days old baby. Pretty crazy to see her becoming a mom, and so heartwarming to witness her happiness. Watching my friends grow, evolve in their lives, take big steps, make big decisions is something I’ll never get bored of. I’m so grateful to be part of their path.

Back to Paris for the last shoot of the summer with the Patine team again ! It was such a fun one, with a talent I wanted to shoot with for a while. We shot video and photos and I can’t wait for these images to come out !

Got my Polaroid package right in time to leave to… New York again ! Off for three weeks.

And those were three well deserved weeks. I was drained when I landed. No motivation, no inspiration to shoot anything, although I left with a few projects ideas. It was like my eyes couldn’t see much. Shared that blockage with a few photographer friends who all unanimatly told me to drop the camera and go live my life instead of trying to force something. Which I did. And it did me well.

I had one small personal shoot planned, with Allie, who I tried to shoot with last October, but it felt through. This one got me excited to shoot again ! It was such a chill project, a morning on the Staten Island ferry, with the loveliest girl. It reminded me how much I love to shoot. How energized I normally feel after shooting. Still, I didn’t force anything regarding pictures of New York, only carrying my camera in case I would see something, but not looking for images. I manage to shoot a few rolls that I’m looking forward to discover.

In the midst of those three weeks we had a few getaway plans. First one was my annual trip to New Jersey to visit my friend Alexis. This year she took me to the Sussex County fair, the New Jersey State fair. A first for me in this kind of events. A very American experience. Carnival, animal contest, farm and horse show. Full package. And mind you I checked the schedule afterwards and I missed the Bull riding event, the demolition and Monster truck one also. This is so far from what we have in France. It was a really fun day.

Next day was hiking day. We went to Cold Spring with the friend’s I stay at when I’m in New York. Shout out to them for always welcoming me so warmly and letting me crash for 3 weeks in their guest bedroom and allowing me to spend my dream summer.

I spent most of my time reading in the sun with a coffee, finally started biking on those city bikes, huge highlight of my stay. Caught up with friends I made in the city.

For my last weekend, we had Connecticut adventure planned. Took the road for 4 days. Loved everything single second of this weekend on the American roads. Sitting in the back of the car, music on, looking at the road, the landscapes, the houses. It felt like a movie. The change of scenery got me inspired to shoot a little bit.

And just like that the three weeks were over and it was time to fly back home.

I came back rested, happy to be back home and ready to get back into work !

First semester, most work came to me, which I’m infinitely grateful for, but it also left no space and time for me to ask myself what I want to be working on, and to go after new projects. So since the coming weeks will be quite slow, that’s what I’ll be doing ! I’m excited about it. I also want to work on the way I share my work on social media. Although my feed is looking more and more like the type of work I want to be doing, I feel it lacks life. I want my personality to pop a little more. This also takes time so it seems like it’s the right time to explore a little more.

To finish the month I was supposed to spend a weekend at my father’s house, but due to an unfortunate turn of events it didn’t happen, which led to my first bivouac experience ! I dreamed of doing something like this, but I’m not equiped for it and I tend to not make time for this type of projects. I’m a lazy planner. So, thanks Juliette for always letting me join your adventures !

I hoped on a train for Lyon and on Saturday morning we drove to the Vercors. Started walking around 11 with our 4L of water on our back. I turned on the plane mode on my phone to save my battery to be able to take picture both days, and it felt good to be offline for a minute. I’m going to try to do this more often. It’s good for the brain, mental health. I couldn’t completely switch off social media, but doing so regularly seems like something I should and could do.

It was two days of pure magic, focusing on my feet to not lose balance with the heavy backpack, chatting about life, laughing a lot and absorbing nature’s peace. I’ll let you with some images of those two days in the wild, it will speak better than my poor words.

And then I finally came back home and got back into daily life for good. It felt good. I’m happy to be back in my little apartment. I feel so lucky to have such a cosy place to come back to. I need to declutter a little because I’ve accumulated way too many things and I never took the time to do so when I moved in and now I feel a little overwhelmed. I’ll finish the month with a day at Rock en Seine with Julie, who I met this summer at la Douve. Saying yes to new adventures and pushing myself to connect with new people really did me well. I feel more in touch with myself than ever.

So, yes, what a summer it was. Now wishing everyone a good back to work season!! We’ve been making a life, now we gotta make a living again.

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I then proceeded to reconnect with reality and spent as much time as I could with friends and family. Going for drinks, coffee and lunches in between post-production. Surprisingly my social battery was low from only spending time with people for work, but I still had so much battery to be with friends. I needed the lightness of a drink, chatting and laughing about life. I think living alone brings me the right amount of space to reset at home and be able to give everything once I’m out. It’s the most satisfying feeling. I feel like I can be present for my loved ones and I love it.

My friend Pauline was in town for a month and we manage to get coffee not once but twice ! We caught up on work projects and life, and I got to meet her dog Willow!! Cutest puppy.

Among my favorites of this month, weirdly, was the heatwave. Sure it was way too hot all of a sudden, but there was something special during this time. It’s scary to see where the world is heading, but there was also something that touched me very deeply, seeing everyone in my neighbourhood trying to stay fresh. This survival mode made me feel connected to people around me. Not that I’m not, I’m quite aware of my surroundings, but more on an emotional level of feeling less alone in this mess. Like we are all on this terrible boat together. Might not make any sense, but it did to me.

Still, even if there was something a little philosophical going on, I tried to avoid the heat a little bit. I went for two days to the countryside with my mother. It wasn’t less hot, but at least the inside of the house was a little fresher and we manage to go swim to the nearby river. Then I came back to Paris and the worst of the heat was to come. Fun !

The reality of the heatwave quicked, the temperature not going down at night knocked me out, I slept so little for a week, going out for drinks with friends because nothing is more unbearable than suffering from the heat all day and not seeing anyone (the limit of freelance life). So eventually I ended completely exhausted for the whole weekend. I couldn’t do anything but stay home, rest and become crazy of sweating and doing nothing. The last days of the month I was so tired, I kept having to take naps after lunch. I tried to recharge as much as possible before going into July and all the plans I had.

On another note, I finally ordered a proper photo backpack that I got to try on a job, and it seems like the investment was very much worth it. Literally asking myself why it took me so long to invest. Probably because everything costs 200€ ???

I went printing at the lab twice. I printed pictures I took for myself on a job with Repère Sauvage, all on 120mm and also decided to print some pictures I took in my home and in Paris. I’m a little obsessed with handprint lately. I love picking the pictures to handprint, spending time focusing on colours, light. Seeing my work on paper is so satisfying. Too bad this process is so expensive because I could defenitly spend more time in the darkroom.

So basically half the month was focusing on a lot of work, and the rest of the month was being with friends and surviving the heat. I loved June. I felt so happy and excited about life. I listened to a ton of music that made everything feel like a movie. It’s definitely hot girl summer!!!!!

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Movies :

Thanks to this beautiful heatwave I’ve spent a lot of time at the movie theater to enjoy the AC. I even enjoyed 2h30+ movies…

• De Gaulle - Part 1 by Antonin Baudry (2026) : I wanted to go see a movie, this was the one matching my schedule so I went. I like historical movies so it’s not like I forced myself. For a french movie the images were good, which is very rare. It’s literally the story of De Gaulle, so it can only be that. It portrays him as the anti hero no one really took seriously for a long time, but if you can disregard this subtle glorification, it’s entertaining. Now I’m curious to see the second part.

• Jim Queen by Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athane (2026) : my favourite of the month. One of the funniest movie I’ve seen in a while. There was something so heartwarming in hearing the room laugh all together. I kind of need to see the world unite these days, so it might have touch my soul a bit more than it would usually have. The pitch : a mysterious disease arise turning gay guys into heterosexuals. The references are all so good. Smart and funny. A must see.

  

• Shana by Lila Pinell (2026) : didn’t have a bad time, didn’t have a great time. One of those movie that you see and will probably forget. Images were nice, Eva Huault was good, but it wasn’t life changing, groundbreaking or inspiring. A good heatwave movie.

• Disclosure Day by Steven Spielberg (2026) : I went to see this one because it was 38° in Paris, my apartment was turning into a oven and I couldn’t bear lying indoor doing nothing because my brain was melting. I’m not normally really into sci-fi but I’m happy I went anyway because it got me out of my movie comfort zone, and I find it nice. I’d say that appart from the ending, which I found very intense and probably too “american” for me, it was quite good. I didn’t get bored, I didn’t find it too long. I just found it was too intense on the “this would change the world as we know it”. I had to ask friends their opinion on the subject afterwards to put it into perspective.

  

• It’s complicated by Nancy Meyers (2009) : I’m disturbed by Alec Baldwin, I haven’t seen him in many movies but it felt like seeing him play in 30 Rock, he got me a bit out of the movie, but a movie with Meryl Strep is always a good one, so I’d put it in the “good comedies” category. Empowering middle age women as main characters are so rare it’s always appreciated. Even though everything is turned around men which doesn’t make it the most groundbreaking movie of course. But it’s a comedy, not a masterpiece. Recommended for a hot summer night.

• Sisters by Jason Moore (2015) : such a 2015 coded movie. Not groundbreaking, a comedy like there used to be so many. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler never disappoint. Recommended for a hot summer night when your brain is out of service and can’t handle too many informations.

Exhibitions :

• Nan Goldin at Le Grand Palais : the exhibition is now over, but it was so good ! I came out feeling like I just got a shot of life, wanting to be with my friends and live live live. The show presented 5 small dark rooms and projected Goldin’s pictures around thematics with soundtracks. The soundtracks really got me. It was so well picked it made the images feel alive. Being someone who loves the 90s aesthetic, it was amazing to be able to grasp a little bit of the experience of living through those times when people weren’t scared of cameras and seemed really free. You can feel there’s no fear of ending up in the internet. People are busy living, and someone happen to be here capturing this life. I’ve seen so many things recently about young people scared of being filmed while doing something “cringe” to the point that they control the way they behave up until inside clubs, or simply don’t go. No issue with no club, but I feel like it says a lot, since these are places where you usually let go and dance. Seeing those images was a good reminder that life is supposed to be experienced, you should feel it, not just watch it happen. Be present.

  

Books :

We are skipping the books this month, because I didn’t read anything apart from Society’s special on Jeffrey Epstein… I couldn’t get into any of the books I have at home, I read a few pages of each and never went further.

Artistes :

I went to my friend Melodie’s artist studio open doors and discovered several artists :

• Marguerite Piard : her space spoke to me deeply as it was a real cabinet of curiosities with lots of orange and vintage objects, then her work with those warm tones, the simple scenes, the texture was so special due to the way the prepares the canva she paints on.

• Ido.lem : No discovery here as Melodie is my friend, but she deserves to be presented as her work is simply stunning. The colors, the shapes, another burst of life that I hope I can have in large format in my living room someday.

• Oscar Lefebvre : it spoke to me in the size of the canvas, from really big to really small, the tones and the scenes. There’s something really organic in his work.

• Giulitta Cogotti : something similar in her work.

This month favorites :

• Spending time with friends and family. It seems quite obvious but after a big month of work I was just happy to have more free time to spend time with them

• Junction : a coffee shop near my place that I recently discovered and has now become my Saturday morning spot to write and read. Good coffee, warm staff, nice place and a loyalty card, I don’t need anything else.

I used to say that flowers impressed me as much as cars did, and cars do not impress me (except for vintage ones!!). We’ve gone a long way and now I’d love to have flowers in my home all the time, I want to take pictures anytime I see one. The colors, the shapes the texture, I find them magical.

That’s how I decided I needed to visit Giverny in the spring. And honestly I would recommend it to anyone. It’s a little crowded, but it’s so stunning it’s worth it anyway.

I had rarely seen so many flowers at the same time. The burst of colors is invigorating. Everything is so well arranged. You might say it’s too much, but not really. It feels like stepping into a fairy world. An ode to flowers.

That’s also how I fell in love with my Pentax 645N, it was my first time shooting with it!

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This month was very special, because for the first time since I got into this photographer life my calendar ended full in a way I wondered many times if I would ever get there. Full with exciting projects, that took me here and there around France.

But let’s not get things backwards.

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Thankfully I started May slowly. My friends who moved to Marseille visited Paris the first weekend of May. It was the first long weekend of May, so Paris emptied and we manage to have lunch at On Partage and then sit at a terrasse in the sun without any effort. Those who’ve been in Paris know that on a sunny Saturday a table in the sun at the terrasse is a rare commodity. I also went to the Vanves flea market with my father, found nothing but rain. To warm up we picked the first restaurant that seemed nice, and it turned out to be recommended for years by Le Routard and to be really good. Dokkebi14 if one Sunday you decide to visit the fleamarket and find yourself to be hungry.

The following week I went back to Emulsion to handprint some work shot at Domaine de Primard, finally got my appointment at the ophtalmologist after 4 years with the same glasses that I don’t even wear. The next day I went to check what the market had to offer for a new pair of glasses, but we are month later and I still don’t have a new pair. That will be a quest for June.

I shot our first portrait project with La Douve Blanche, a festival I’m shooting this summer. We shot at Lao Siam with Etienne4U and Tekilatex, had a fun time sipping jasmin ice tea and eating mango. You can see the result on La Douve’s Instagram.

I love the challenge of shooting something within a place with 15min to an hour to create something. I realize how much practice it takes for it to become natural to get creative. I naturally lean towards the “natural and genuine” side of creating. I’m not redoing decoration or making people jump on tables if it doesn’t make sense. I like having them do what they would naturally do. I often ask myself “Why would they do that ? Does it make any sense ? What’s the story here ?”. But I also see some people’s work that probably give directions of fun stuff to do that end up looking so cool and natural, so I want to push myself to get out of this “making sense” way of thinking a bit more. Be more foolish. Still a lot to learn and this is exciting !

The second weekend of May my friend Juliette took me on my second bike adventure ! We met at Jaurès in the North of Paris, followed the Canal de l’Ourcq all the way to the Seine, then followed the river all the way to the Monte Cristo Castle, our cultural project that day. So worth it. The riversides have been developed into cycling paths almost all the way. You bike among the trees. We had our sandwich facing the river and the Impressionist Island. Still don’t want to move in the suburb or get myself a proper bike, but I’m saying yes to all her bike ideas. I carried my Pentax 645 all day in my bag which was kinda crazy, so here are 3 pictures I took.

After that I felt like I needed a break from the city and went to spend almost all week at my mother’s countryside house. Took my beloved Pentax and shot like a maniac. My mother made acacia flower fritters, I made cookies, my step father made barbecue. A slow weekend full of good food, movies, walk in the fields. I needed to wake up with the birds chirping, the sound of nature, the wind in the trees. I love my life in Paris and wouldn’t trade it for a thing, but there are moments where you can feel you need a little time off the buzzing city life to reset. I came back recharged and happy to be back in my lovely little home.

This year I noticed how much I enjoy spending time with my family. I always did, but I can feel something different. I love dropping by and spend time with them, no special occasion needed. Going for diner, and just be physically around. I guess it might come from living alone, I’m happy to spend time around people without a purpose. We might not always live so close by and there might come a time I can’t improvise coming by, so I’ve decided to enjoy it as much as possible.

After trying for a while to meet for coffee with Paloma Saint Léger, we finally got our calendars synchronized and went for a coffee before she headed to her walking adventure to Compostelle. I love her work and it was so lovely to meet her in person. It so special to be able to meet people in person and connect. We are all living our little creative lives on our own, and it feels good to be able to share what we live with like minded soul. Especially as women, I find it even more important to support each other.

These moments get me so energized and enthusiastic, I went on with my week with a smile on my face. A week of pre-production : calls with clients to prepare for the projects coming up in the following weeks, stacking up film, batteries, … In between running from Carmencita to Nation Photo, to local shop, I had lunch at Aux Deux Amis with a friend on Thursday. Got crazy and went for an ice cream at JJ Hings and a coffee at Perlant. I went home with a full stomach and joyful mood.

We shot the second portrait project for La Douve Blanche in a cool coffee shop with Naomi and Louise Petrouchka. Meeting new lovely people might be the best part of this job. Like I get to spend morning with cool girls, chatting about their life in music, we sip coffee and take pictures. What do you mean ? Also shooting the artists before the festival is making me more confident about capturing portraits of them during the festival, and now I can”t wait to be there and shoot new stuff.

On Saturday we got hit by a heatwave. We litterally went from being in sweaters by 15° to a good 30° from one day to the other. I walked to Emulsion at 9 in my tank top while sipping ice coffee. You could feel people being happy, which made me so happy I was out so early on a Saturday. I handprinted a personal project. That same day was the last live of Dans Le Bain podcast with Jean-Vincent Simonnet, which was so interesting (go read the Culture Consumption of May to know more). Biked to my mother’s place for diner to celebrate my sister’s birthday. And then the work marathon really started.

A shoot with Patine again on Sunday, with twins Louise and Chloé, who I wanted to shoot with for a while. Then I took the train to Repère Sauvage. We got in touch through an event I shot for Rouje and Aigle taking place in their beautiful hotel last autumn. I spent two days shooting the place and absolutely loved it. It confirmed that I want to do more hospitality. There’s something so inspiring in shooting beautiful embodied places. You can feel the life, the energy put into it. It might also come from my personal love from beautifully curated places, attention put into decor, it’s just so satisfying.

Back to Paris for a day, just enough time to mess up my place, a quick laundry, redo my suitcase, shoot an event for Diptyque and off again, this time to Avignon with Violette_FR.

We spent three days in a beautiful castle in Provence shooting campaigns for upcoming products with the usual team. It was like camp. On Sunday evening, we had diner all together feeling a little sad it was already over. But what a good way to finish the month !

I also finally got myself a new point & shoot camera to carry everywhere with me. My last one broke more than a year ago and I didn’t take the time to find a new one. But that’s a problem I solved and I started taking more pictures of daily life. Because what’s the point of capturing everything but not the in between moments that are literally what life is all about ?

I’m feeling very grateful for all the opportunities arising lately. I hope it keeps going this way in the next months because it might be the most alive I have ever felt. I love every part of what’s happening. Being tired for doing what you love really is a blessing. I’ve been asked what my dreams and goals are with photography, and honestly part of it is just being buzzy shooting inspiring and exciting projects, and meeting people along the way. I don’t even know what my dreams are because I feel like I want them to be so big that I’m unable to picture them. Sure I already have dream projects, but some dream projects I’ve worked on I never imagined them. Like someone told me once “sky is the limit”.

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The house in itself doesn’t mean much to me, but the area does. Growing up my parents had a beautiful house in the middle of Burgundy were we went for school breaks and weekends, and we spent almost all summer there as my father was a teacher and had the same holidays as ours. Parents got divorced, house got sold and I never came back after that.

Being back and go around all week was a little emotional and weird. My childhood is connected to this region. I remember the roads, the villages, the shops, the houses, sometimes even the trees. Half of what I remembered had changed, but it was also very much exactly the same as when I came for the last time, more than ten years ago.

So many memories surfaced. Picking blackberries in the hedges in August. The bakery of our village when I saw the face of that woman at a garage sale. The old lady next door watering her flowers. The ceramic exhibitions my father took us to. My sister and I asking to go to the lake, and my father saying “we will go only if there’s absolutely no clouds this afternoon”. Riding our bikes through all seasons with my mother. Picking chestnuts in autumn, mirabelle and sweet peas in summer. The gougères from that one bakery we only went to on farmers market days. That time I dove into the paddling pool and scraped my knee. The list goes on.

There wasn’t much to do as a kid there, yet I realize how much we experienced. It built a part of my imaginary, and I can see it in the pictures I take. There’s a sort of melancholy in this countryside where it feels like time has stopped a while ago. I’m pretty sure that’s why I’m obsessed with vintage stuff and retro aesthetic from the 90s.

Funny thing, I’m working on a project that we are shooting soon, inspired exactly by this slowness of french summer. A house, a garden, old books, nothing to do but watching time pass daydreaming and making up stories. The client didn’t really need to explain the concept, I’ve lived it my entire childhood.

It happened that last year, my dad celebrated his 70th birthday. It took me a while to find what gift I could get him. His not a materialist person, he leans more toward the sentimental value of things, or simply very random things I couldn’t actually know he might like, so it always requires a little effort to find something meaningful.

The dots connected mid-july, when I realized I would spend a week with him in his countryside house. A house he bought because we pushed him with my sister as he kept coming to the region staying in the place he originally went to before buying our house with my mother. He is attached to it. He’s been coming there for so many years now, he knows almost all the roads, the villages. He’s seen shops open and close, people getting older, go away and come back, just like he did.

My father also isn’t a wired man. He doesn’t own a smartphone, doesn’t have internet at his place. He is a paper man. When we plan to meet, he writes it in his paper calendar he always has in his mailer bag. We can’t really send him pictures of our life on a daily basis. We have to share the stories with him afterwards, when we see each other. So I thought I would make him a book, to have something to look at every now and then. And to give a meaning to all the pictures I captured, that would otherwise simply live in my harddrive. Here is a selection of the images that made it to his book. Also if you read this post last summer, it will be the analog version of some of the pictures you’ve seen there.

These pictures now get to live a life. And he loved this little book so much, he asked me to get him to other copies to gift them to friends.

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But now I’m onto the next step and I want my apartment to feel as lively as I’ve been feeling. I’ve been buying myself flowers, rearanging the plants so that all of them are getting the sun they need. I’ve made a big spring cleaning because it was getting out of hand, in part because I have so many things (next step should be decluttering) and lacked space to store my painting tools, my prints, some books, little vases, … When moving in I had found space for all these things but it looked too messy and I started feeling this clutter inside my brain, which I don’t want, it makes me feel stuck both physically and mentally. So, those who personally know me, won’t be surprised by what will follow : I ended up on Leboncoin looking for a second hand shelf as cheap as possible. I thrive in making the best bargain on second hand platforms. That’s one of my biggest pride and joy to be able to say it was found at a cheap price and second hand when someone compliments something I own or my interior (I talked enough about my orange couch…). I found a new shelf to store all my mess. It’s not the exact beautiful vintage shelf I had in mind and spotted many times on Pinterest, but it looks like it and was 15€, so it’ll do the job until I find its upgraded version. I love how it elevates the look of my room. Things feel more right now. I’m pleased anytime I look at it, and that’s all I need.

Following this great bargain, I made a second great acquisition on Leboncoin, that made me feel equally as happy as the shelf : a Pentax 645N.

It was a longtime coming purchase, but last year I decided to get myself a Mamiya 645 AFD, that I absolutely adore, but which also gave me a really hard time. Both time I took it to New York rolls came back entirely blank, there was an issue with the focus point. It went to repair, came back still with an issue, went back to repair, and let me with a desire for medium format that needed to be fulfilled. That’s how the new hunt started : the Pentax 645N hunt.

To say I love it is a euphemism. I absolutely adore it. I might even say : I have found joy in creating images again. Now all I want to do is take pictures. I’m obsessed. It gave me a new vision.

People who do not take pictures or not on film won’t really get it, but the difference between 35mm and 120mm is gigantic. You don’t get the same texture, the framing is different, the level of details can’t even be compared. So deciding to shoot more on 120mm is equivalent to creating a new vision and a new aesthetic almost. I’m creating the same type of images, but it brings a poetry and a softness that 35mm doesn’t have. Lately it feels like my eyes perceive the world in 6x4,5 format. Images come more naturally, where I felt stuck when shooting 35mm. My eye struggled finding the right balance. These days, when I look around the images shape naturally. I can see them before grabbing my camera.

I’m pretty sure this new camera is partly responsible for this burning desire to capture everything, and especially daily life. Mixed with the joy of having created a space where I feel safe and at peace, it just makes me want to remember this time and the feeling of it through the colors, the objects, the moments, the light.

The energy of spring is radiating and has me so inspired. It’s making me embrace the colorfulness of my photography more and more, and look for it everywhere. And it’s as if the world was trying to show me I’m heading in the right direction, sending my way projects aligning with the aesthetic I’m trying to build one picture at the time. Telling me to keep going and to trust my eye.

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The weather forecast wasn’t the best but on the road, out of nowhere an insane sun came out and as soon as we dropped the car and got the bikes out of it, we enjoyed a delicious homemade picnic on the riverside of the Loire before getting on our bikes. There’s two bike roads to Saumur, one along the river and one through the hills and vineyards. We decided to go through the hills on the way to Saumur and take the river side on our way back.

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I’m always keen on being taken on an outdoorsy adventure, because I love them but will probably never be the one organizing them. I’m the one who will find a nice place to stay at and a restaurant and will leave the activity part to the others. Apparently we found the right balance with Juliette. This day got rated 10/10 so many times that afternoon that it’s almost ridiculous. We kept repeating what a good time we were having. We ended the bike ride in the hamam and then headed to a nearby local restaurant, visually a little outdated in the decor and the look of the plates, but let this be our reminded that it’s not because it looks like a plate from 2012 that it’s not going to be delicious. Parisians will be Parisians I guess… We went to bed early, slept like babie and woke up early to go run 10km before destroying the brunch and spending the afternoon at the spa. I also tried to take some more candid memories with my camera, as I tend to forgot to do so when I’m with friends.

The perfect weekend if you ask me.

After that the month accelerated. I got booked from one day to the next to shoot for the french brand Patine. I love their project and how they execute it, so I was happy they reached out. We created really nice images for a shoot that got planned in 24 hours. You can see some of them on their instagram and website already !

Shot a second time the same week for a regular client that I don’t share anywhere, because that’s my equivalent of shooting e-com, except my version is shooting events. They are lovely to work with and my mentality around shooting events is : you never know who you might meet there or where it can lead. Plus, the atmosphere is always nice as people are happy to be there.

Anne-Laure from The Solar Club invited me to participate in a Leica Workshop. Needless to say I said yes ! I’ve always wanted to try one of these cameras to understand the fame around it. It was lead by Philippe Vitry, alongside 4 other women photographers with different level of careers. Connecting with more people in the photography world is one my goal this year and I welcome any occasion that allows me to do so. It was such an enriching day. Being able to create images, try different bodies of Leica cameras all while chatting about photography, business, how to navigate this creative entreprenor life. It ended with a drink, other people drop by, and then I went home work on some images, grateful for the day I had. Regarding the Leica camera : it felt like touching a camera for the first time. They are so specific and different from anything I work with. I felt so slow. The way you focus, the settings, it’s like you have to learn photography again. The look straight out of the body is insane though. I get the fame.

After that I got booked for a second shoot with the film magazine Trois Couleurs. Not gonna lie, this made me really happy and proud, as working in the movie industry is a dream. I would love to be a photographer on set, shooting all the behind the scenes and candid shots from the shooting of a movie. Working with this magazine feels like getting my foot in the door. Or if not my foot, at least a toe. The magazine is printed and you can get a copy for free in all MK2 theaters in Paris. You can see my last work for them here.

That same day I took my mother for an afternoon among the flower’s of Giverny, in the garden of painter Monet’s house. Last time I went I was 8 or something. I didn’t really remember much except that I had found a Néfertiti pendant. This place is a dream. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes flowers, colors, gardens. It’s a little crowded, but the beauty is such that it’s worth it anyway. Accessible by train for those without cars and not as expensive as I would have expected.

It was also the week I celebrated 6 months of getting back into running, which made me so proud. I had kind of given up on one day loving to run again, but somehow I managed to get back into it. I’ll probably write something a bit more in depth about it, because I feel like everytime I shared the fact that I manage to make myself love running for a long time I get the same question “How did you do it ? I can’t seem to make myself like it”.

On Thursday I hopped on the first train for a long weekend in Marseille, as half my friends now live there. A blessing and a curse I’d say. The plan for the weekend : no plan, just tan and have fun. We spent our afternoons at the beach with a picnic, and our evening at the terrasse of La Dérive drinking beers. Nothing more nothing less. On Saturday I kept repeating I was having the best day, and it was at least a 12/10 kind of day. In between two beach sessions I shot a personal project with Anaelle, with whom I’d wanted to shoot for a few years, went for runs along La Corniche and visited Julie Pailhas’ Galerie Objets Inanimés. Also dropped by Carlotte With for a coffee and a Pompe and Boujou for ice lattes. If you fancy a sandwich in Malmousque, Cécile is a good spot.

I went back to Paris rested, fulfilled and tanned. Ready to tackle another week.

The next day we had planned to shot a little beauty project with make up artist Nolwenn Quintin that I met on my Violette_FR projects. She wants to do more video tutorial, so I was there as videographer while she was doing her magic. This was also the occasion for me to drop by the Plein Coeur bakery for some Easter chocolate, that my friend in Marseille made me try. Love at first bite. I didn’t take a picture of it, but trust me it was cute and excellent. Good thing I’m trying to reduce my sugar intake or I would have found an excuse to got back and get one last chocolate lamb before they’re all gone.

As I’m writting I realize how much happened because this seems a little long. I hope I won’t lose you on the way. I sure lost the possibility to make you read directly in a email says the warning about post length.

Over the weekend I went to see the Lee Miller exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art with my father. Loved it. I discovered her through a movie telling her war story, but the exhibition made me discover all her work prior to that period, which was the period my father knew about her work. So interesting.

I took my friend Juliette to the second live of Dans Le Bain podcast at Print. It was really cool. Congrats to Roxane Moreau, who’s killing it with this project. Overall had a great afternoon/evening, pushed us to socialize. And once again felt proud about it. It always takes a moment of awkwardness before it feels natural, but it’s always worth it ! I’ve found myself so happy to connect with new people these past weeks.

Woke up on Sunday jumped on my bike and went for a coffee with Roxane, and then a coffee with Nine, went home for lunch and then went back outside to read my book in the sun. Another 10/10 day and overall, another great week. Which leads us to the last one of the month.

Also quite intense, three shoots planned, one last minute for a very cool magazine, that got cancelled even more last minute! The perks of being a creative. You get excited for something but until it has actually happen, it’s not real. But if it’s meant to happen, I’m convinced it will, in the right timing. The two others are for a podcast (although this one is happening today, so technically it’s a May shoot) and for a brand. I’ll share more about them next month.

A highlight of my life is to now have my lab in Paris, which means I can have my pictures almost right after I shoot them, even my personal projects. I can share some bits in my diaries now !

Someone also tried to still me 7000€ directly from my bank account. Not everyday is a 10/10. But to compensate that emotional rollercoaster, I started to convince myself I might go back to New York this summer. That’s how I cope with difficulties : New York. Unless there’s actually a petrol shortage in Europe as I’ve read about somewhere, in which case, I’ll improvise something else probably.

I didn’t see the month go by, and already we start May !

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So much happened this month and that’s probably why it felt like it went so fast while being really long ?

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I started the month in New York, for my greatest pleasure. Feet in the snow and head in the clouds. A flight delayed by a crazy blizzard, and a layover in Manchester later I finally landed in the middle of the snow. I’m always amazed by cities where it snows that much, Paris not being one of them. It gives such a special atmosphere. Life goes on, except people wear shoes to walk in the slush. The light is so bright. Appart from one or two freezing days, it was a pleasure to finally see the sun after weeks of rain in Paris. From the moment I landed where I got gifted a sunset in the far of the airport shuttle to the next morning where I woke up with sunrise, it gave a bit of hope for the remaining days of winter.

I managed to squeeze in so much within the time of a week. Meeting people, visiting my favourites places, eating my weight in snacks and shooting two cool projects. One more of a portfolio type of project, to get more of the New York retro vibe I want ton infuse in my work, the other one (not out yet) was my first time experiencing one of those industrial studio. It was raining all day, but it was still so cool to just experience a space like this.

After this unexpected, but much needed, week in New York, I flew back to Paris, only to better catch a train the next morning to Geneva to visit friends who’ve been living there for a few years. I love visiting them in winter. I think it was in 2023, my friend had motivated me to go swim in the lake in January, just like the locals on their lunch break, and I simply loved the experience. Getting in the water at 6-8° is… tough, I won’t sugarcoat it, staying in there requires mental strenght because your body send you signals that something is absolutely wrong, but the feeling once you’re out is worth the pain. 10/10, highly recommend.

Every winter I try to visit them, both because my friend comes to Paris more often than I go to Geneva, so it’s only fair that I make time to come see her, and to get that winter dip. This has become a whole reason to come to Geneva in winter.

Also, having most my friends gone from Paris, my week-ends are now rather slow, so I’ve decided to take more time to go visit the ones that are accessible by train.

After this lovely weekend, full of winter activity : fondue, a little hike in the snow and its well deserved picnic looking at people skiing in the far, I headed back to Paris with a little tan, which wasn’t unpleasant.

But the adventures didn’t stop here. I jumped in another train, this time heading to Bruxelles. My father wanted to visit the Magritte Museum, he had talked about it so many times I decided to take him.

Bruxelles being Bruxelles, we got rain half the time, but our projects being mostly museums, it was bearable. We also visited the Horta Museum, which I had heard of so many times. It was stunning. The front was in renovation, so some rooms were a little dark, but overall it was just so dreamy. I highly recommend visiting it if you happen to be in Bruxelles. I made him try waffles and we had coffee and breakfast at the Brasserie Verschueren, a welcoming and cosy local place.

Finally, after these almost three weeks away from home I finally landed on my couch, right in time for the opening of the Print space in Paris. Also highly recommend visiting it if you’re in town. A mix of photo exhibition, coffee place, bookshop, talks, and restaurant. There’s something for everyone.

After the fun comes the chores. The weekend was full of cleaning my apartment and doing laundries in between long walks, because that’s also when the weather became much nicer. Sun came out, I finally went to my mother’s place to get my bike back.

The following week started with a personal shoot with Alaska Rider, who I’d been following for a while. I loved her vibe and wanted to shoot with her while she was in Paris. We had so much fun, and I created my favourite images in a while. I haven’t shared everything yet, but here is a sneak peek.

I went back to the lab to handprint the personal project I shot in New York. I wanted to give it a try at black and white for a while and those images felt like the right project. I entered at 2pm and left at 10pm. 8 hours in the darkroom, having fun, discovering a new way to print, trying to reboot my brain. If I thought pre-flash was humbling, it was nothing compared to black and white. But the result was so worth it. I’m far from having understood everything, but it was a nice first try.

I stayed in Paris for the week-end, as the second round of local election was happening, and needless to say it has become quite essential to share your opinion when it is required in today’s world. But it was also the first live session of Dans le bain Podcast, hosted by Roxane Moreau. The guest was Thomas Sauvin. Such a special moment. He was so interesting and you could feel he was used to speak about his work, which made it so captivating. Another thing I highly recommend. I’m ruining my culture consumption post in this month recap, but who cares.

The next day I had planned coffee with Nine, my editor at Carmencita, who I now know in person and have coffee with every once in a while. Literally a dream come true to become friend with the team of my favourite lab. And with the photographer Jérémy Veron. I loved this very social weekend. In my intentions for the year, there’s meeting more people from the photography world at large, and I’m pretty proud of how it’s going. I’ve been putting myself out there and meeting more people than I would have expected.

Back to shooting with a project I got booked for a little last minute. Hopped on a train again to go to the Domaine de Primard, a luxury hotel from the Domaines de Fontenille collection, an hour away from Paris, for a night hosting women holding high responsibility positions in companies like Guerlain, Sephora or Mastercard, as well as entreprenors. It was interesting being around capturing images while listening to them talk.

Events like this are tricky. It’s a conflicting subject for me at the moment. I love trying to capture inspiring images in a setting that could feel not so inspiring. Trying to bring both a documentary and poetic vision of the moment. But I also don’t want to find myself stuck in an event photographer position. It bothers me that we have to be put in boxes of types of photography when I love doing so many things. Nevertheless, it allowed me to shoot pictures for myself in such a beautiful place, and as I’d like to do more hospitality work, it’s always a good way to access places I couldn’t afford.

I got back home and the rest of the week was admin, editing, and prep for a shoot the following week with a client I pitched to a year ago, but things unlocked only earlier this year. A reminder that good things take time.

The weekend was slow : on Saturday morning, I did a really long walk to a bakery I love (le Pain Retrouvé) but live far from now. On my way I found 10€ on the ground, so I treated myself at the bakery. I spent my afternoon mostly reading, eating what I got at the bakery and tidying my apartment. Friends came back from their 8 months adventure to the Reunion island, so we celebrated their return. Sunday was spent under the sign of hungover, but I still managed to go run 10km. Don’t recommend running when you’re dehydrated, but it still felt really good to have moved my body.

The last two days of the month were spent shooting for the brand Papier. We got quite lucky with the weather as it was supposed to be a summer campaign and we shot on probably the only sunny day of the week. The second day was mostly indoor, so we managed to make it look like there was light. And like the Papier team said : it looked like a great day in London! They were the nicest to work with, so accommodating and enthusiastic. It made me feel confident. I also got to build my team for this shoot, which is literally a dream : getting to work with people you know and get along with makes the job even better. A great way to finish this busy month.

And that’s it for March ! See you in April !

Play this to get in the right mood :

For the past three months I’ve been living on my own for the first time in ten years.

Indeed, as I stated in my last posts of 2025, due to an unfortunate turn of event, I ended up the year single and moved into a new apartment, on my own for the first time since the day I left my parents home to be independent at 19.

My very first apartment was on my own, but it was also my first year in business school and you’re basically always busy doing something so your home becomes a place to sleep more than anything. Yet I remember the excitement of furnishing it with my mom, being so happy to make it look exactly the way I wanted. However, after that first year, started a long marathon of living with flatmates that finally led to living with my partner.

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I spent my twenties living with people, which implies negotiating, compromising, adapting to the others, making sure everyone feels comfortable, … Those flatmates years were mostly shared with friends, which made the experience incredibly fun, and some of our best memories, that we happily remind ourselves every once in a while. If it doesn’t break your friendship, you actually get to become so close by living together. It’s very special and I’m so grateful to have been able to share my life on a daily basis with them. But I also had to live on three occasions with people I didn’t know, and mind you it was not just two unknown people, no, it was 8 of us in a house with no living room, a shared bathroom and 5 nationalities. The joy of Erasmus! I speak about it has it was the most awful experience, but it wasn’t that bad. It brings its fair share of surprises and adaptation, but you survive. And at 23, you’re flexible.

Surprisingly, for a person who likes things to go my way, strongly opinionated, I think I’m rather easy to live with. I have the ability to let go when it feels like a waist of time to fight. Don’t get me wrong, if I feel I can have it my way, I will. But I also manage to compromise on things I wouldn’t necessarily would have done that way if you’d let me the choice. Might come from a tendency to people pleasing here and there, but it still proved itself very useful for those years of living in a community.

But here we are, for the first time of my adult life (yes, because with hindsight, at 19 I wasn’t an adult), I get to live exactly the way I want. And I don’t come from an environment where I was forced to live in a way I didn’t want to. I was very lucky to share my life with someone who was so easy to live with, who made our home feel like a safe place. And before that with friends that were also so easy going and safe. The places I’ve lived in always made me feel at home, I could recharge, rest, be myself, … I was already living the way I wanted. Yet sharing everyday life with someone is still different. Whether you want it or not, you have to adapt rhythm, make sure to check things with them, let them know what you are doing, when you’ll be home, what are the plans, … Because it’s not just you and your little life, it’s you with them. I see it like a dance. You dance together, it flows, but sometimes you’d like to have your solo moment to express everything that can’t actually fit in the duo part, and then come back to the duo part after. Does that make sense ? Maybe it doesn’t because you make the solo part fit in the duo one, and I didn’t manage to.

Living on your own holds its own mental load, but of a different kind. When something is not done, I’m responsible for it. I have no one to blame other than me. But that’s where it shifts : there’s no energy put into holding grudge on someone or feeling like you’re responsible. Things are the way they are, it’s more like a fact, there’s nothing to discuss or unfold. Daily life feels so carefree and light.

Among my favourite things in this new life is allowing myself to regress without guilt. In particular when it comes to food : it has become something easier to handle. Not having to think for two and eating whatever I want, whenever I want, really is a weight off my mind. My new kitchen isn’t really cooking friendly, so I don’t cook anything elaborated, and I like it. I’ll be cutting an endive straight in my plate, make an omelette and will go on with my day. I eat what feels good, what I’m drawn to. I find it has become a bit more intuitive, where I used to eat more from place of habit, and also because when meals are shared, you naturally end up cooking more as if it wasn’t ok to eat random shit from the fridge when you’re with someone. Somehow, it makes me creative : what can I cook with the least movement and tools implicated while making sure I’ll eat enough to not be starving within the next two hours ? Who would have expected that a tiny kitchen would make me more mindful of what I eat. It’s true that constraint enables creativity.

I think what surprises me the most is to discover how much I’ve changed in the past ten years. Even four years actually. I knew it obviously, but living on my own, I get to clearly see what’s different. There are moments where I catch myself thinking “oh wow we like this now" or “we do things this way now”, … I’m getting to know a new version of myself, it’s empowering. With spring coming, it feels like blooming.

Another surprising discovery is the amount of music I listen to and how I find myself wanting to dance all the time. And believe me when I say I’m not a dancer. It’s funny to see how the body expresses joy, happiness, lightness. It’s not like I woke up one morning wanting to get into dancing, it’s something that naturally flows through my body. I sort of feel floating, and the music I listen carries me. I hope these sensations will imprint in my body forever, and that listening to these songs again will help bring them back on days I might feel heavier.

I had let down my little speaker because my partner had a better one, so the small one turned out a little useless. Well, never put anything to garbage if it still works because you never know how it might come back to life! This little speaker has been playing like crazy since I moved in. Not in a bad way, to fill the silence, but more to create a new soundscape that is mine. It sets the energy in this place. I play music when I work, when I cook, when I shower, when I wake up. It sets the mood. This winter I wanted to feel calm, cosy, inspired, and so I’ve been playing music that made me feel like this. These days I feel energized, I want music matching this energy, so I’ll be playing pop songs all day. In hope of encapsulating these emotions I started making playlists to play when I want to revive them.

Maybe the first thing I should have brought up was actually how I arranged my apartment, because that’s definitely what made me feel home first. Everything I talked about above exists only because I made sure the place looked a way that made me feel good.

As this move comes after a break up, I’d say it was a little special. At first, swept up in the twirl of life, with the end of the year, and the holidays coming up, I didn’t really realize what was happening. In order to make the move as painless and smooth as possible, one thing that was a non negotiable was to make sure I was quickly settled. I’m going to quote my friends on this one, but a few days after moving in “it looked like I had been living here for years”. And that was the whole point. I unpacked everything I could within the next two days. It allowed me to feel home, and to start envisioning what I would do with the space now that everything I owned had found a first spot. I didn’t invest in much furniture, I had almost everything I needed, but still I felt the same excitement as when furnishing my first apartment. Only this time it was with things I love that I’ve gathered along the years and hold meaning. The only missing piece was a couch. And let me tell you, the one I found became the master piece. I couldn’t be any happier of its bright orange. It brings so much light, and now that the sun is out, I get to appreciate it even more.

I don’t know if it’s because the sun came back, but I feel really happy these days, and that’s the loveliest feeling to welcome spring. I feel good in my home. I feel good in my head. I feel better in my body. I reclaimed my energy. In the limit of my Parisian apartment, the possibilities seem suddenly endless. If it was a movie it would the moment when the situation unlocks. You know, this moment where the tempo accelerate and the soundtrack is joyful, suggesting that the character’s life is good and they are happy. In movies, it often drops all of a sudden, so better enjoy the feeling while it last, right ?

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I also I made no effort to write some notes every weeks to make the writing of this a little easier.

Basically the two main things I wanted to do to make the writing of this post easier to manage, I didn’t do. I’m probably not the only with big hopes and a lack of will when it comes to taking the steps. Hopefully.

On the bright side, I also started a new notebook in the first days of January, in which I try to write a summary of my day everyday, in a descriptive way, so I still have something to use to help my memory.

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This month I decided to let go and take things as they came. It’s exhausting to worry all the time, and it’s not very like me. Usually, I act, I move on, I overthink and figure things out, I’m not stuck in a spiral. So after seeing one too many Tiktok with that sentence saying somethings like “if the plan doesn’t work, change the plan”, I’ve decided to apply it. Why try to force something you have no control over ? Go live the life.

And you know what it works. I worked, but didn’t overworked myself for nothing. I did what I had to do, and the rest of the time ? I went out, saw my friends, my family, made time for sport, I said yes to almost everything because I knew I would have time to rest after. I went to see exhibitions, planned back to back trips. And I loved it. I think that’s a flow state I would love to turn into a lifestyle. It’s very peaceful in a wy. You work when there’s work and the rest of the time you enjoy life. So when you have a lot of work and don’t have to time to enjoy life, it’s ok, because you know there will be a time when you will.

Since I started writing these diaries, now I get to see how I felt a year ago at the same time, and compare. Apparently I lived February 2025 a little less good than this year, and I’m sure it’s because I couldn’t let go. I was trying to push something I couldn’t really push.

Don’t get me wrong, I also pursue things that require to push through. It’s more that sometimes if it doesn’t go as expected, it’s good to take a step back, breath, refresh and reset to be get back into it in a better mindset.

One of the biggest thing this month was finally seeing one of my best friend who left for Australia last year. She came back for a month and I got to spend a few days with her in Paris, catching up on everything literally, from the most random stories, to big life decisions, considerations, … It helped in the process of letting go. I hadn’t seen her in so long, I made space to spend as much time as I could with her and enjoy her company while she’s here. I kept telling myself : so what if you take these three hours to go for a walk ? What do you fear will happen ? You can always catch up on work later.

While busy not doing much, a magazine I reached out to a while ago now, without hearing back from, reached out for a portrait project of a French actor. I don’t have much information regarding the piece but I can’t wait to see it printed. This project was a first : 15 minutes to capture the portrait, in an office I was discovering live, without many light options. You know what they say : working with constraints makes you more creative. I can’t say I 100% agree with that, but at least you’re very spontaneous and it forces you to think fast.

Second big thing is I ended up spending a week in New York for a project. It wasn’t planned, but as always it was amazing. Every time I go, it’s a little more difficult to leave. I feel so grounded when I’m there. It feels so unreal to be living these moments that I force myself to live in the moment. There was a moment, I was on the subway, R line I believe, crossing the Manhattan bridge, sunset in the far, and I caught myself thinking “wow, that’s our life, we are actually living this moment, being in New York on a random February Friday, doing our things because now we know the city, we know people here, that’s crazy”. Teenage me would probably struggle to believe me if I was telling her that. I can actually cry saying that because it’s a real dream to be able to experience life this way. I feel very privileged but also very proud for everything I’ve done to get there. I was discussing this with Casey Thibodeau, who I met last October for the first time, and got to briefly catch up with before leaving : we always want to be so much further already, but if you look back it’s also good to appreciate what you’ve achieved and built. This time in New York made me appreciate the journey. Having only a week made me pick carefully what I wanted to do and who I wanted to reached out to and meet. Happy coincidence, a photographer whose work I love, Elina Nova, happened to be in New York at the same time, so we got to meet ! And not only her work is beautiful but she was so nice and interesting.

I also took the time to do a creative shoot while there, with the sisters of a model I shot with last time I was in New York. It turned out in a family shoot, with all four siblings together. Another challenging moment as I have never shot four people at the same time, and it’s not that easy to keep an eye on all of them to make sure everything looks good, while handling framing correctly and make sure the camera is correctly seated. Luckily they were all so nice it was the loveliest (and coldest) morning. I have nothing to show as, faithful to myself, I didn’t get any iPhone shot of that shoot. I think I was overwhelmed by the number of people. But now I can’t wait to get my scans back.

While all this was happening, March started to shape, working on upcoming projects. A few cold pitches from a year ago finally landed. If we needed another proof that patience is key.

It starts to smell like spring, Paris is getting warmer. The good days are coming and it feels really good. And as for me I’m going to bed because jet lag is hitting hard. And I’d like to watch the first episode of Love Story, I already feel behind.

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When I was still in New York and I said to people I went to spend a day in Yale in New Haven, reactions were mixed, to say the least. I could feel people being intrigued by the idea of wanting to go spend a day there.

It’s always funny to be a visitor somewhere, because your relation to things is biased by the fact that whatever you do, you’re discovering something. If you pair that with the fact that I love the American suburb and find it very cinematic and photogenic, you get the right cocktail to a moment of misunderstanding.

Does it stop me in my adventures ? No.

The only person who was as excited as me when I told her was my mother, because I made her watch Gilmore Girl, and she instantly connected the dots : “you went to see Rory ?!”. Yes I did mom!!!

It was more of a coincidence than a long time plan, but still. I wanted to see a university campus for a while. I watched so many movies and TV shows setting on a campus, it made me curious to see it. I remember going to Oxford and Cambridge during a camp in England when I was 16 and feeling so impressed but the history of the place, the buildings, there was something special in the idea of a city organized around a university. The concept does not exist in France. We’ve tried to emulate the idea, but it’s far from what the US and the UK have, you can feel it’s an imported concept.

Initially I wanted to go see Princeton, but without a car it appeared to be a little tricky, and I found out by looking at all the train departing from Manhattan that Yale was quite easy to reach, with a good number of trains going back and forth making it possible to go for the day, without the need to spend a night there (still taking care of a little cat, remember ?).

So here we go, I decide that on Tuesday, October 28th I would go to Yale.

I woke up early to catch one of the first train, and almost missed it because on the subway I missed the stop. Ironic because it’s not something that happens to me that often. I don’t know how, I managed to jump on the next subway back, ran in the station and made it right in time !

The train ride in itself was already amazing to me, going rather slowly between the houses, with the water popping between the trees here and there in the far. The sun followed us for a while. All along the way I kept checking where we were on the map, wondering if any of the cities we were crossing could be a nice place to visit for a next time.

Two hours later, with not a sun ray left in sight, we arrive in New Haven.

When I come out of the train, the cold seize men and for a minute I wonder if all this really is a good idea. It’s windy, grey and the first street is nothing like I saw on the pictures.

Since I was late for the train, I didn’t get a chance to grab a coffee for the ride, so I decide that my first stop is going to be coffee. I had spotted a few places, and one seemed like the right place to sit for an hour, warm myself a little and journal. I head to Atticus Bookstore Cafe. The name says it all : it’s a bookstore and a cafe.

Since I had arrived in New York I wanted to try a Pumpkin Spice latte, as it seems to be THE autumn drink here, so here I go.

It’s in this exact moment that I feel something switching in me : I decide to take things as they go, not rush myself, slow down and enjoy. Even if it means I don’t see much of the city. I feel so happy to be doing what I’m doing, I just want this feeling to last.

So for an hour I sip my large pumpkin spice latte and eat my banana bread slice, while journaling and reading my book. I walk around the books. Remind myself that a year ago I already bought two books in english, that I still haven’t read, so I stop myself before purchasing yet another book that will sit on my shelves for months, and proceed to walk to the visitor center to figue out what I can see of the university, and how.

The students are the ones welcoming people there, and when I ask for a map, I’m being informed that there’s a walking tour of the university at 1pm where we can enter some areas that are normally closed to the public. I have a bit more than an hour until the said tour, so I decide so go for a walk on my own to the library and the center.

The sun is back, the leaves are all yellow, orange and brown, it feels like the place is made to be visited in this exact season.

Students are walking around, going to classes, dorms, library, … I find it so funny to be walking amongst them. I enter the Sterling Memorial library. There are impressive stained glass windows and the sun goes through them. It looks like a cathedral not a college library. Behind a door there’s little garden with a fountain in the middle. It’s so lovely and peaceful.

I remember feeling so excited and grateful te be living what I was living. A few years ago my life was so different and I could never have imagined being able to spend a day in New Haven in the midst of a month in New York. It was a dream that would probably have remained a dream back then. My heart felt so full, I felt so lucky.

I kept walking around, wondering if I was hungry or not. I decided to go for another coffee as the sweet breakfast I had at the cafe got my stomach confused. I stopped in little boutiques, got myself a pair of hearings in prevision of the Halloween party I was invited to later this week, a chocolate bar for and evening snack, and had to go to the Yale Shop. I gifted myself a Yale University tee-shirt as a reminder of how I felt that day.

And it was time to join the tour! I rushed back to the visitor center and join a group led by a student, who explains us the organization of the dorms, tells real life student stories, how the university functions, the classes, the buildings, the history of how it was built, anecdotes … Just for the pleasure of entering the inside of dorms buildings, I would recommend doing the tour. Also it was really funny, because I think I was the only tourist, the rest of the group was teenagers with their parents, probably prospecting colleges. So at the end when the student tells us about college tuition fees, scholarship and touching the foot of a statue for good luck, I feel like a fraud.

I have less than an hour left before my train so I say goodbye to the little group and move on to a last walk around the beautiful historical buildings, in hope of getting a few more pictures.

At some point a guy stops me because he sees me taking pictures. He tells me he also takes pictures, and ask if I’m visiting, and from where I am. He works at the university as a security guard for one of the dorms. He’s been here for around ten years and loves it working here. I have to end our conversation a little abruptly as I have to head back to the train station. He wishes me a safe trip back and we say goodbye.

I get myself a pack of peanut butter and jelly M&M’s for the train, and here I am, on the train again. The sun is setting in the far. I arrive in the city in the dark.

That evening, I felt so happy, I remember my heart feeling so light. I put on some music and danced on my own.

Places I went to :

• Atticus Bookstore cafe, book and coffee

• dwell on Chapel St, gift shop

• The Yale bookstore, book and gift shop

• Lou Lou on Broadway, clothes and gift shop

• Common ground, coffee and cakes

• Sterling Memorial library (make sure to check the little garden)

• Visitor Center, to get a map, do a tour and visit one of the oldest building of the university if I remember well.

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I listened to an episode of the What’s the Juice podcast (Ep. 186 I think), and one thing they talked about really resonated : the fact that they easily project too much on something and if it doesn’t happen they get very disappointed. I tend to do the same. Something comes up, I project a lot as if it was already happening (don’t talk about it to anyone because I’m superstitious), and if it falls through I congratulate myself on not telling anyone because I was right to be superstitious and I don’t want to explain that it didn’t happen when I already need to face my own disappointment. All this challenges my self-worth and my confidence. I really hope some day it won’t.

Luckily, to finish this first week on a better note, I spent the weekend in Toulouse to visit one of my best friends who now lives in Mexico. She surprised her family for the holidays and it was the occasion to see each other before she went back to Mexico for months. We spent our weekend walking around the city, endlessly talking about everything. It was exactly what I needed after a week that made me feel I didn’t know what I was doing and where I was heading. And I think I felt this bad also because I moved in on my own in December in the middle of the holiday fever, so I didn’t really feel what it meant to suddenly be alone for real, and this first week brought me back to my new reality. I felt lost, and needed this time off with a friend, to talk and share how I felt, to slow down, eat well and sleep.

On Sunday afternoon, we both grabbed our computer to deal with a few things we had to check, and I love this image of us, sitting side by side, doing our thing, breaking the silence from time to time to comment on something and then going back to our task, with the sun bathing the room in that soft winter light. Sometimes all you need is the presence of someone you love, knowing they are here by your side.

Before leaving for that weekend I felt guilty because I was leaving on Friday and coming back on Monday. It felt like I was wasting time to work. But then on the train back I felt so much lighter. I know how much I need to make space for moments like this, it’s what energize me to then work efficiently, yet it doesn’t come naturally. I need to work on the balance of my time. I started working on this balance and being more gentle with myself and the use of my time last year, trying to remember that one of the perks of being self employed is also to organize my time the way I want and not feel guilty when I take time off. I’m getting better at it, but I also still struggle seeing other people working and me not having anything coming so I tend to lock myself in, in front of my computer as if something would magically appear, when I know that what is necessary in this moment is to let go.

The second week went a little smoother. I felt recharged from the weekend, found the energy to get back into work, emails, writing, got some work inquiries, and some encouraging news regarding a project shot in 2023 that never came out, but should do so this year. Let’s cross our fingers. Also had some admin stuff to handle, took care of all this. By the end of the week I could feel a little progress. I exercized everyday, which made me feel really proud and good. I didn’t really made time and space for gym in the last 6 months, and it feels good to get back at it. I love the feeling of lifting weights and feeling my body getting stronger.

I went to see two movies, including one short one made by a guy I met shooting together (Victor Deweerdt). It was very inspiring to be in the room and see him present his project, surrounded by people supporting him. Over drinks after the projection, my friend asked me if I wanted to direct a short movie someday, and I think I would love to. It just feels overwhelming for now. But I hope I get there some day. I want to dream a little bigger regarding my personal projects. I guess it requires a little mindset shift.

The weekend was social : friends came to spend the afternoon at my new place and we built my new wardrobe, before heading to a lovely bar (La Panza), to celebrate my birthday. It was a joyful night and I felt very grateful to be so well surrounded. I woke up really late on Sunday, something I hadn’t done that in a really long time, and it felt good to be in bed and rest. When I finally got up, I went on a walk to get some fresh air before spending the rest of the day getting my clothes in my wardrobe while watching A Man Called Otto.

After that it seems that time accelerated. I worked, my friend who lives in Mexico stopped by Paris to get her flight, so she slept over we spend a day together, I went to a concert, finally worked on my first project of the year, then another friend was in Paris so she spent the weekend at my place for the weekend, worked again, second job, went to an exhibition, … and just like that it was the end of the month. And I can’t even say “it went so fast” because it didn’t. I felt the time passing. Which is one of the reasons I love January. If the first two weeks felt like a month, the two lasts went in the blink of an eye.

I started a new notebook in which I write what happens during the day in a very descriptive way, for the sake of remembering days that would otherwise be forgotten, and this notebook paired with these diaries have the power to remind me how lucky I am, and overall how nice life is. If I didn’t make these I might remember the bad parts instead of all the good ones ???

January is a special month (have I ever discussed the fact that I’m a Capricorn, a really proud one ??). It’s a little endless. You can go through the entire spectrum of emotions, and eventually don’t even remember you felt in a specific way at some point. That’s the beauty of this month ! I try to remind myself that every year the first weeks are not easy, but it’s just the time it takes to launch the year. Who knows, maybe next year I’ll feel a little less lost and helpless ??? Maybe not. The good thing is I’ll have this diary to read and empathize with myself.

In the meantime, I went on other side quests and it all started with New Jersey.

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Those little adventures started back in 2022, when I came back to New York after 10 years. I had made an online friend, Alexis, and this was the occasion to meet (or had we met in Paris already ? I don’t remember). Anyway, I dragged my friend Judith to New Jersey to meet Alexis and her cute little dog Lucy to spend a day in Highland Park. My first encounter with the American suburb. Needless to say, I loved it. It was like entering a movie. It was spring, everything was green, covered in flowers.

The train ride in itself was already so satisfying. Looking through the window at the streets, so typical of the American urban planning, so different from France.

When we got off the train, Alexis was there, waiting for us in her beautiful car. She drove us to her place for a quick homemade lunch and we jumped back in the car to go wander around Highland Park. I guess any American would wonder what we could possibly have found interesting to do in Highland Park. But that’s the beauty of discovering a place : the simple fact that it exists is intriguing.

We walked through a park next to the river, between the few people doing barbecues with their family and the empty sports fields. It was a warm day and it was nice to be in the quiet of nature for a second.

We hoped back on the car and went to walk around the streets, amongst those typical houses. The sun made it all so perfect. I could have walked around for hours. Everything sort of looks alike, but also absolutely doesn’t. Some houses have pretty flower arrangement and on the porch and the front yard.

They are painted in nice colors and you can feel the owner wanted their house to look beautiful. For some others, the effort put in the decor isn’t the same. No plants, no flowers, no nothing. A house on its lawn. And there’s the chaotic one. The house with bikes everywhere, porch covered in stuff, as if the house couldn’t store everything, and the outside became the extension. Not my style, but I always love the idea that people live so much that it shows. Between the house with absolutely nothing and the one with chaos, I’d probably pick the chaotic ones, it looks better on pictures. I wouldn’t live in it though, I would end up with severe anxiety.

One thing that fascinates me in the American suburbs is also the cars. The country has a relationship with cars that is also so different from France it’s fascinating. They are part of the scenery everywhere. You can see so many old cars. There’s something so satisfying in that. I hate recent cars so much they usually block me from taking some shots because they’re in the way. But those old cars, they’re different, they help shape the pictures.

After walking for a while in the streets, we finished the day in one of Alexis’ favourite place, I forgot the name of it sadly, and got a slice of pizza before heading back to the city.

And that’s how day trip in the surrounding of New York became an unmissable part of trips to New York ! Next time, will go upstate, I promise.

More seriously, what happens between December 22nd and January 10th ? h

The end of the year and the beginning of the new one is an odd season. The year that finishes forces you to slow down and reflect, the one that is starting doesn’t know when it really starts, but is there all of a sudden, both a little slow, reminiscing proof of the end of December and very fast as if we needed to rush into the new projects to make sure we make the most of this new year. One second it’s slow season, the next one you’re getting back to action as if you had missed your alarm and had to rush. And whether you got ready for it or not, I feel like each year it always takes you by surprise.

I love this in-between period. I’m born early January so I might be programmed to like this period. I like the reflection it calls and the projection it inspires. But let’s be honest, I’m better at the last two weeks of the year than at the two first ones.

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See, I’m good at reflecting, taking time to assess what worked and what didn’t, what I want to achieve the coming year, … I love the coziness of this period that allows to stay home, read, rest, watch comforting movies (re-watch The Holiday, jump back into Gilmore Girl, …) , eat good food, spend time with loved ones or on your own. I found it holds a special energy, where everything is on hold. It’s a time to clean, re-arrange and file. Get your thoughts and life in order to enter the new year as peacefully as possible. Especially this year for me, I took this time to work on my organization, and make it as clear and smooth as possible. Check on my finances to make sure I know what goes where. Get my apartment the littles things it needed to make it cosy and nice to live in. I also worked on a vision board, and updated my work goals. Some are the same as last year because they haven’t been reached, some I don’t align with, so they’ve been replaced by new ones. I love to do this work because it helps me get a clearer vision of where I am and where I want to go, whether it’s in my style, the subjects I’m drawn to, the types of clients I want to work with, the types of assignments and commissions I’d like to work on. Each year I’m happy to notice that I get a little closer to who I’d like to be as a photographer. I need this time to finish the year properly, and I’m always looking forward to it.

But the new year comes, time starts to fly, and I see people working from day one, I’m there wondering at which point of this career I’ll be booked from January 5th. There’s not a chill bone in my body anymore. I panic, immediately starts blaming myself for not anticipating or not being good enough to have jobs already booked, … That’s sad but that’s the reality : negative thoughts resurface quicker than I would like them to.

In these moments I know social media are my worst enemy, so I go a little stronger on the blocks. I don’t want to feed the spiral by sitting at home watching stories of people already working. I already am pretty good at it on my own. In the first years I would even limit social contacts. Because people asking you what’s up, when there’s not much to talk about is difficult to deal with. This is something I still haven’t made complete peace with. I know how it is, how slow the beginning of the year can be, so if it was just me I could deal with it, but it’s not just me. I’m surrounded by people who mostly work corporate jobs, and even if their questions come from a genuine interest most of the time, it doesn’t make it any easier. I tend to take them personally.

Instead of going completely crazy, here is a list of the things I did to try to make this year’s first week a little easier to handle :

• I read. Anytime I felt my mind spiralling, I reached for my book, to shift the focus on something else.

• I socialized. In this period, sometimes I feel like it’s easier to stay on my own and avoid facing people’s, especially to avoid questions about work. But I also know that it’s because I’m on my own for too long that I start spiralling, so anytime I felt a burning urge to cancel plans, I pushed myself and went. And 100% of the time it made me feel way better.

• I reworked my website, my bio, my portfolio. This is ground work that will be useful all year long. It’s still a WIP but I’m getting there.

• I went on a long weekend away to visit a friend. A day before going I felt awful, I was stuck in my head wondering why I saw people getting booked and had nothing coming up. All the potential projects fell through and I was left wondering when would work come. I started questioning if it was the right idea to go, maybe I should have stayed facing my computer waiting for some magic to happen ? Obviously not. I went on that weekend. I took the train, it got a 1 hour delay, but that’s what I needed in this moment : to sit through time, stuck but for a reason outside of my will. This weekend was everything I needed.

• I watched movies. Random ones, good ones, at home, in theater. Movies help my mind escape, they make me feel good, they make my imagination work, they push me to act.

• I exercized. Honestly, me in September wouldn’t really believe that we go on a run to clear our mind, and that it makes us happy and feel better to do so, but it does ! So I did that.

One thing I didn’t do, or in very limited amount : consuming social media in ways that require no brain activity. Meaning scrolling through stories. I opened Instagram on my computer in order to use it in a work related way. In the morning I forced myself to read instead of scrolling. I mostly read books, but I also allowed myself to read Substack posts. I think not consuming social media in the morning makes me forget they exist, because I realized I didn’t really want to check anything for the rest of the day. I mostly checked them in the evening when cooking diner.

This time of the year is always special. I think I’m putting too much weight on it, that’s why it’s both so nice and so uncomfortable. I also have great expectations and ambitions for what I want to achieve, and whether I like it or not, not everything is in my power, which leads to frustration sometimes. So I’m happy I took the end of the year very seriously when it comes to hibernating, decluttering and staying home drinking coffee and journaling in my new coach. Did I tell you about my new coach ?

And I wish myself a busy January 2027 to fight this FOMO and fear of being behind at least once. But we’re not there yet. Let’s enjoy 2026 first !