Manuela
"We are often stronger than we think."
"You should never give up and think of yourself as the unhappiest person on the planet."
"According to my daughter, my courage and determination is above average."
"Barely 25, I dared to ask a narcissistic pervert for a divorce, and raised my 2-year-old daughter on my own. To achieve this, I had to hold down several jobs to be able to guarantee her a future."
"Throughout my life, I've not only idealized my dreams, but I've always done everything in my power to make them come true.
"My positivity, the fact that I always find the positive in difficult situations, my understanding and listening to people, my ease in forgiving without holding grudges, as well as the values I hold dear, (some of which are disappearing such as loyalty, empathy, keeping one's word, sensitivity and sincerity) make me special."
Challenges she is proud of:
"The first was, without a doubt, the education given to my daughter."
"Then I resigned from a position of responsibility to start a business on a very low commission salary. Finally, 10 years ago, I launched my own business."
"I also managed to buy an apartment in five years despite my low income."
Difficult periods in his life:
"The death of my dad as well as my mom's heart attack."
"The ban my daughter had to get in court to erase her father's presence from her life, including his last name."
... and how she coped :
"By reminding myself that there are always people more unhappy than me, by staying strong because my daughter needs her mom to be there, even though she's 30, just like my own mom."
Her testimony :
"During this shoot, I had a wonderful time and a unique experience.
Christophe started off very respectfully, asking me if I minded the lack of noise from the camera's shutter release... I quickly realized that this wasn't going to be just another shoot.
Stepping out of your comfort zone can be unsettling, but as I'm naturally curious, I accepted straight away, and was keen to see how I'd feel without hearing the clicks, without guessing when the camera would be triggered, and when the shots would be taken.
A second quite unique experience was the fact that we chatted as if we were on the street or somewhere else, while remaining ourselves.
Most of the time during the shoot, I forgot that it was a photo shoot... which was Christophe's intention.
After the session, I remember sending a message to express my apprehension about the result, precisely because the photos weren't as conventional as what I was used to. Je pensais qu’il n’y aurait peut-être pas beaucoup de photos « potables ».
But that was without counting on the professionalism of this photographer, who knows how to capture emotion at just the right moment.
And for me, it's the difference in sensitivity that Christophe exudes, a sensitivity I've never found in any other photographer.
The emotions, the signs of a past that's not always easy, sometimes a feeling of unease, we don't see by carefully choosing the right pose and expression. Christophe has understood this very well and has found an excellent and moving idea to capture all this very naturally.
And that's the key word for this shoot : natural.
Be yourself, bring out what's deepest in you, love and accept yourself as you are.
Being strong people, despite a more or less difficult past, turning weakness into strength: that's exactly how I felt when I saw the result of the shots.
As for the moment and the experience with Christophe, I can only recommend it to anyone, whether self-confident or not. You'll see that you won't come out of the experience the same.
Thank you Christophe for allowing me to be myself for a few hours.
Thank you for your professional, sensitive, attentive and listening eye, an eye that you give off even more when you "put on" your camera... like a pair of heels 👠
Thank you for this moment out of time and out of the classic clichés, the ones we imagine must look like a classic photoshoot.
Simply THANK YOU Christophe!"
Manuela in her natural state...