PAULINE PETIT | 2 SERIES

PAULINE PETIT | 2 SERIES

THE WOMAN WHO COLLECTS MEN

“The title WOMAN WHO COLLECTS MEN leads her to reflect on the act of collecting in itself. She realizes that she has, in her way of photographing, of constituting her series, a similar approach to any collector: A search for the perfect artwork, the one she could proudly display in her collection”.

The series “WOMAN WHO COLLECTS MEN” was born out of a feeling of injustice: seeing that it was much more difficult for a woman to existing and developing in the international photography field, which men are ruling. As PAULINE PETIT sees it, women are being paid less for equal benefits and efforts. Women get less exposure. Women are less rewarded when competing.
PAULINE PETIT, therefore, wished to express this injustice by offering a counterbalance to the stereotype of the male photographer photographing women.
She then decides to place herself in the opposite position, with a woman photographer photographing men.
And to go further, she entitles her series: WOMAN WHO COLLECTS MEN… and thus creates a second counter-step to other established beliefs.
The title WOMAN WHO COLLECTS MEN leads her to reflect on the act of collecting in itself.
She realizes that she has, in her way of photographing, of constituting her series,
a similar approach to any collector: A search for the perfect artwork, the one she could proudly display in her collection.
Besides, don’t you think it’s this same feeling that drives every photographer to shoot over and over again?
She, therefore, begins to build this series as a collection, a collection whose theme would be to list all men! The different morphologies, shapes of faces, noses, mouths, different looks, skin textures, and representations of men of varying age wearing uniforms, hats, accessories, and hairstyles, thus highlighting fashions, trends, professions, sports.

Regarding the artistic choice, PAULINE PETIT aims to represent each man in profile to accentuate the differences between each. She paints faces in black and thus erases any notion of identity. By doing so, she works not on representing a single individual but on representing a type, a category of men.
Finally, she post-processes faces in a fashion photographers’ style: smooth skin, perfect features, impeccable hairstyles. Techniques which are generally reserved for the female beauty touch-up. It thus creates a slight nod to the genesis of this series while offering post-processing, totally adapted to the search for perfection in her collection.
She does all the make-up, staging, shooting, and all post-processing herself.
Pauline Petit plans to create a collection of 100 portraits in this series!!!

Pauline Petit uses the same protocol to make all of her portraits: She first sketches her ideas. Then she buys, transforms, or creates the accessories herself. On the day of the shooting, she also does all the make-up and hairstyles herself.

PAULINE PETIT

Pauline Petit was born in 1986 in Normandy (France), where she lives and works in her ‘studio 22’.
Ever since she was a child, Pauline has been interested in artistic careers.
This passion drew her to write and illustrate a collection of children’s books. In 2007, Shortly after the publishing, she became a professional photographer.
In 2019, Pauline developed a multidisciplinary personal photography work, mixing illustration, painting, and photography, implicating a scenery of humor, graphic design, and aesthetics.

Pauline Petit uses the same protocol to make all of her portraits: She first sketches her ideas. Then she buys, transforms, or creates the accessories herself. On the day of the shoot, she also does all the make-up and hairstyles herself.

She only photographs in her studio, using a Nikon D750 and a 70-200 mm 1: 2,8 lens. She uses two Elinchrom flashes for the lighting: a flash on the model’s face with a beauty bowl and a second flash behind the model to obtain a 100% white background.
Pauline Petit uses a flash meter and technique of performing an overexposure of +1.3 EV. Each shoot lasts 15 min, and she takes between 10 and 20 photos until she reaches the correct outcome.
She post-processes all of her photos in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop and uses Split Frequency and Dodge & Burn Techniques. She works with a 300 to 500% zoom and invests about ten hours of work per photo.

THE GRAPHIC PORTRAITS

The ‘THE GRAPHIC PORTRAIT’ series comprises several dozens of monochromes portraits with tight framing presented on a white background in square format. It features imaginary, humorous, and surprising characters who challenge, question and make children and adults laugh. The idea of this series is to be simple and accessible for all.
PAULINE PETIT’s main inspirations come from children’s literature and her love for painting and drawing.
By presenting a childish and light universe and very rigorous and precise, she knew how to intelligently combine these two passions for presenting visuals halfway between photography and drawing.
She does all the make-up and hairstyles herself; she creates the various accessories, takes the shots, and post-processes photos in her studio. A little anecdote: more than half of the portraits in this series are self-portraits! Will you be able to recognize her?

Read the full article in Lens Magazine Issue #80