As soon as the first announcements were made about the filming of the series Paris Police 1900, the posters in the metro, the ingenious comm’ of the TV channel concerned; many friends and acquaintances rush in with messages of thoughts and kindnesses about my activity. Of course, I have the idea of a wink during a photo session. Memories…

Dare to wink

When I start my retro photo studiobusiness, there are of course the pleasant moments of your sessions, moments when I see you delighted and in the middle of a journey into the past. And there are also all the other photos, a lot of them, to create the visual communication of Mademoiselle Louison. The promotion is not an assembly line, I always take care to make it a singular session for the chosen models. And then, there is also all the communication linked to my person, unthinkable at the beginning because I wanted to be discreet and only put forward my work as a photographer on your portraits. However, a friend managed to get me to take the plunge and the confinement did the rest.

I dare to show my face, my off moments, my live craquages and my tests in Belle Époque outfitsto check the vintage chiné product! As soon as you have fun and distance yourself from what you are doing, I find that everything is easier and lighter. You are not saving the world, you are trying in all modesty to create an activity that resembles you to give a little joy around you.

Is there a series coming out about your favourite period? One of the actors is rather cute? Networks allow you the tag that doesn’t hurt? Go! A little photo here, a little inlay there, a little identification: and there you are, side by side for 24 hours with the star of a popular and rather well-made television series. The actor doesn’t contact you of course, but you dared. It made some people laugh. I succeeded in my challenge: never take myself seriously and laugh a lot no matter what I do.

The portrait always feminised

I have always wanted to integrate my feminist commitment, in my own way, into my work. I didn’t know what form it would take but it was in the development plan. The tribute/reproduction photo came quite naturally, as do many of my colleagues in the past. The series Paris Police 1900, like many other productions of the past months, has its strong female characters. And even if the choice is to be in tune with the times, to respond to the needs of today’s women to identify with determined women, I am delighted to say that other models are circulating on the screens. At least we are talking about it. The icing on the cake is that you get informed, you become curious, you open up to feminism.

It is always good to recall those times when “the ‘male dictatorship’ of a society where an ‘unfaithful woman can be repudiated while there are brothels all over Paris’,”comments its scriptwriter Fabien Nury in the GEO website article on the subject. I therefore loved discovering the character of Jeanne Chauvin, a character drawn from history to remind us of the battles fought for the right to be educated, to exercise, to exist without dependence. So I find my lady of today, Miss B., to embody, to give a nod to Miss Chauvin with a portrait of the studio Mademoiselle Louison always feminized. We look for the model photo, the right break, the inspiring outfit in the studio wardrobe and off we go! The green background and the magic of photo editing will do the rest. Another wink, another tag, another nice moment. Communication can always be a committed tool.

Your very own Paris Police 1900

As the months go by, the craze for the Paris Police 1900 series continues. I enjoy watching each episode. I now look forward to scrutinising every detail of the reconstructed interiors and admiring the precision with which the decorators position each object. I pause on the scenes to look carefully at the care taken in the harmony of each outfit. I am under the spell. I am above the violence of the issues raised without forgetting them. The series has the merit of highlighting tragic, dark and violent moments of the period.

Never forget the story behind the fiction. We feel all the research work of the scriptwriter. Let’s remember that the time was not “beautiful”, it has this nickname years later, when the nostalgia of the times of peace gains the devastated spirits after the first world war. So I focus on what cultivates me for my daily life. I imagine the adjustment made by the seamstresses for each actor. It is formative. I’m thinking of the costume changes that had to be made at times to ensure that the ensemble was an almost perfect reproduction of the period. I see myself “mouse” from the trays, nestled in the hole of the false plinth.

I’ve taken some of the staging and postures to give you inspiration for your own retro photo shoots in my Atelier 1900. And I don’t need a fiction from the beginning of the 20th century to give me ideas. Finally, I realise that everything is a pretext for composition during your portraits. So it’s quite natural that a charming lady with a pipe allows me to wink at Commissioner Armand Cochefert in a skirt. It’s a bit like your very own Paris Police 1900.

Choose your character from the Paris Police 1900

I don’t want to direct you more than is reasonable. I am simply trying to offer you a range of comedy, of performances between the perfect reconstruction, the inspired reproduction of a cliché and a retro moment with the tones of today. We need to be in step.

Because in the end, it’s your gift and your session. This is your experience in authentic retro outfits and accessories. You may be posing as a character from the famous Paris Police 1900 but together we aim to find your best projection as a “Belle Époque” character.

Let’s stay inspired and cheerful. Time is ephemeral.

FEEL LIKE A COSTUMED PHOTO ACTIVITY?

Mademoiselle Louison invites you into her private studio in the heart of Paris and dresses you up with vintage outfits and accessories from the Belle Époque.
Dressed as in 1900, you will experience the portraitsof yesteryear with serious and amusing stagings.
A personalised photo souvenir to make on your own, in a group, as a duo or as a family.