Let me introduce myself

Photography pushed me to accomplish things I wouldn’t have thought capable of doing, it brought me to places I would have never explored and met extraordinary people who helped me to become who I am today. Let me explain this long journey and where it comes from.

I started to have a crush on photography when I went to high school. I discovered the work of Theo Gosselin, a French Photographer I really admire. By his photographs, I have developed a kind of desire for freedom and to explore the wide-open natural spaces. 

In December 2015, I finally bought my first camera, a Canon 7D with two lenses (18-55mm f3.5-f5.6 and a 50mm f1.8). I used this setup for 2/3 years, which helped me to learn the basics of photography. I began by shooting a lot of street photography because I was living in the city of Bordeaux. Once I became a bit more confident with my skills I started shooting portraits and that’s something I really enjoyed doing. This experience helped me going through my first job as I needed to shoot a lookbook for a clothing brand where I had to direct a model. During these first few years I have met a lot of people who were sharing the same passion. Some of them became my best friends today and they inspired me a lot through the process.

As I couldn’t travel far at this time I started to explore my own backyard during the weekends together with some friends and it proved to me that it is not necessary to travel far to find beautiful landscapes.

Lac du Montagnon, Pyrenees, France.

During my first trip to the  Pyrenees, I discovered exactly what I was looking for few years ago… Freedom and Wide-open Natural Spaces… I  still can remember being there surrounded by the mountains around this campfire having some beers with some friends, it was simple but it was everything I needed at that time. This trip brought out this love for outdoor photography and traveling – and it never went away.

I went back several times to the Pyrenees with friends and with Alex, who taught me everything I needed to know. I will forever remember this 10 days hiking trip in the Pyrenees; it definitely settled me into hiking. It was a pretty spontaneous trip where we decided to take the working van of my friend’s dad. We put a table and inflatable mattress in it to be able to live and sleep in for few days, it was crude but we really didn’t care. The goal was to spend some time away from the crowd, be in the mountains and enjoy a simple life. It still today remains one of the coolest trips I’ve ever done.

Though, it was a challenging trip to the Peak Vignemale, the highest peak in the French Pyrenees, that made me discover a brand new world and ignited a deep passion within for the combination of travel, photography, and hiking. We slept in a cave at an altitude of 3200 m, woke up by the first sun rays sneaking into the cave, and then climbed up a few meters to the summit to admire the sunrise. It was a hard climb and challenging trip overall, but after this day – I knew that I wanted to live something bigger in life.

Pic Vignemale, Pyrenees, France.

In the following years, the dream of traveling to New Zealand arose until it got so strong that nothing could stop me.

After my studies, I started working and saving money with one goal in mind: make my dream come true and fly away. I arrived in New Zealand in October 2018, without a clear plan, but with the idea of working and buying a van, to live the amazing van life that I had seen from so many. However, this never happened. Something much more exciting happened instead. 

The night I arrived, a friend sent me a blog article about a Long-Distance Hiking Trail of 3000km. As I was going through the article, I felt my heart beating like crazy and a source of energy I had never felt before was burning within me. “That’s it, this is why I came all the way to New Zealand.” Without thinking further I decided to do the ‘Te Araroa Trail’ and cross the entire country on foot. The  following day I sent an email to a contact in France and asked if she would be able to sponsor me and send me some missing gears, she said yes. From there I started preparing myself and planning the adventure that was laying ahead of me. 

On the 21st of December, I stood at the starting point of the trail with nothing more than my 55l backpack and camera, ready to start this exciting journey from Cap Reinga, the northernmost point of the North Island, to Bluff, the southernmost point of the South Island.

Cap Reinga, starting point of the Te Araroa Trail.

The first weeks were incredibly challenging and I even had to stop for five days due to an injury; I twisted both ankles. I could barely walk and my ankles were so swollen that they doubled in size. As it is not natural to walk 25 km every day, the body has to adjust so it was normal to happen. It was a period of adjustment I had to go through and after that, it was a lot easier and enjoyable. I met a lot of people from all over the world with the same objectives and passion, sharing learning, joy, adventure.

This three-month adventure was absolutely blissful. Waking up every morning surrounded by nature and  documenting the everyday life on the trail with my camera was something I couldn’t even imagine living one day. Still today I can’t fully realize what I have achieved.

Today when people ask me about this adventure it is still hard to explain it with words. I often say that it is beyond explanation, you have to live that experience to really understand what it does to you. 

However, I didn’t fly home directly. I was able to stay in New Zealand for another year with a work visa which allowed me to enjoy other parts of the country. I was living and working as a barista in a café, in the South Island in the very beautiful and remote village of Lake Tekapo. You might have heard of it or saw some photos on Instagram of this giant blue lake surrounded by mountains and colorful lupins flowers during spring. It was the perfect location for me as I could go hiking and taking photos of the most beautiful places during my days off: Mount Cook National park, Mount Aspiring National Park,  Fiordland National Park… The list is long. 

Gertrude Saddle, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand.

New Zealand definitely brought me a lot of joy into my photography career and it really helped me to deconstruct these limits I had in my head to fully take the control of my life and career.

Once I understood that, I did everything I could to take action and create opportunities. I got my work published in a magazine when I entered the “2020 Photography Contest of Wilderness Magazine”. I won the prize of “Wilderness Outdoor Photographer of the Year” and got the photo published in the magazine. Then, the editor contacted me and asked me to send through some photos which could fit the topic of the month. As a photographer, it was such an accomplishment to see my work on a magazine cover. You should have seen me when I went into the shop to grab the magazine. I was just smiling like a kid who just got a new toy. 

To conclude, the documentary I made during the Te Araroa Trail is called “Up and Down”, representing exactly the path I have traveled during that adventure, and during my young career as a photographer. Life is made of challenges that are there to make you stronger for the next to come  – and I think that is how life is meant to be. Whatever you do in life,  do what you love and what makes you happy. That way, every challenge is meaningful, guiding you to reach your goals and dreams.

Stag Saddle, highest point of the Te Araroa Trail.

What is next? Well, the past two years made me think a lot about “What I want to do in the future?” I am actually thinking of taking a big turn and focusing more into video. I really enjoyed the process of directing and producing a film documentary - it is a great way to communicate a message and inspire people. I am not going to lie, I am already thinking of making another film.