Facing the Lens: The Challenge of a Corporate Portrait in Vannes
Gaël Dupret’s studio in Vannes welcomes me for a session very different from our first collaboration in the laboratory. This time, no familiar props, no everyday gestures to mask my apprehension. Just me, in front of the lens, in the daunting exercise of a corporate portrait.
The Difficult Art of Not Smiling
The first surprising discovery: learning to pose without smiling. Gaël explains the codes of professional portraiture, a sobriety borrowed from the fashion world that gives the image gravity and intensity. For someone like me, accustomed to approaching every encounter with a smile, this constraint is a real challenge.
Not smiling means going against my natural inclination. It requires showing a more serious, more intense side of myself that I am not used to exposing. This demand for portraiture confronts me with a version of myself I have yet to fully master.
The Disorienting Studio Environment
The studio, with its deep black backdrop and carefully orchestrated lighting, creates an atmosphere far removed from the warm intimacy of my laboratory. Here, no reassuring familiarity, no habitual landmarks. Just the raw face-to-face encounter with the lens that reveals everything: certainties and vulnerabilities alike.
This minimalist setting focuses all attention on what matters most: expression, gaze, posture. Every detail counts, every micro-expression becomes significant. This intensity generates a pressure I had not anticipated.
The Fear of the Reflected Image
Apprehension grows with each shot. How will this woman in front of the camera be perceived? Will she reflect the image I want Shesmou to project? This questioning brings me back to the deeper questions of entrepreneurship: who am I, really, in this role as founder?
The vulnerability of portraiture unsettles me. Unlike the laboratory shoot, where my expertise reassured me, here I encounter an exercise where technique alone is not enough. One must accept revealing oneself, allowing personality to shine through without artifice.
The Revelation of the Images
When Gaël Dupret shows me the first shots on his camera screen, it is a shock. This woman I see is me, yet a version I had never known. The black-and-white images reveal an intensity, a depth I did not know I possessed. These portraits show a fascinating duality: strength and fragility, determination and sensitivity, professional assurance and simple humanity. This complexity surprises and moves me deeply.
Embodying the Founder
These images give tangible form to what it truly means to create a brand like Shesmou. They embody the entrepreneurial woman who dares to embark on the bespoke perfumery journey, who stands by her choices and convictions. The portrait reveals the visionary dimension guiding my decisions: creating a different brand, offering a personalized approach, establishing in Brittany far from traditional circuits. This boldness shines through in the gaze, the posture, and the quiet confidence captured by the images.
Between Tradition and Modernity
What I particularly love about these portraits is their ability to express both tradition and modernity. The respect for classical portrait codes, the timeless elegance, coexist with a contemporary approach, a modernity in expression. This duality perfectly reflects the Shesmou spirit: drawing from traditional perfumery techniques while offering a resolutely modern approach to bespoke creation. These portraits embody this philosophy with remarkable accuracy.
Discovering One’s Own Image
The most striking experience remains confronting one’s own enhanced image. Discovering a projection of oneself one had not imagined, recognizing one’s personality in a new light, accepting this more intense version of identity. These portraits reveal facets of my personality I may not have fully embraced: this quiet strength, determination, and the ability to carry an entrepreneurial project. They reflect a businesswoman’s image I sometimes struggle to fully claim.
An Authentic Communication Tool
Beyond personal emotion, these portraits constitute a valuable communication tool for Shesmou. They give the brand a face, embody its values, and create the essential human connection in the world of personalized luxury. The authenticity of the portrait, the truth conveyed despite staging, aligns perfectly with the approach I wish to develop: sincere communication, far from artifice, revealing the real personality behind the brand.
A Lesson in Acceptance
Ultimately, this photoshoot taught me something essential: to accept all facets of one’s personality, including those less mastered. These portraits reveal a complex, nuanced, human woman, and it is precisely this humanity that will be Shesmou’s strength. This corporate portrait experience marks an important step in my relationship with image and communication. It teaches me to fully embrace the role of founder, with its demands and responsibilities, but also with its richness and beauty.
