It is our turn to draw the portrait of the artist who captured the essence of our fragrances on film… With a sharp eye and a curious nose, discover Ilan’s inspired interview, the talented photographer who shot the photos of our Collection.
We often tell you that Carrément Belle is a human story, made of great meetings and collaborations. So, when the project of redesigning the website came up, we wanted to involve a photographer to give life and movement to our fragrances. Ilan took up the challenge, bringing our fragrances closer to their favorite playground: the skin. Between inspiration and talent, here is the portrait of the oeil behind our fragrances, whose photos dress our online shop.
The inspired interview of our photographer
Carrément Belle: Tell us about yourself and your background
Ilan Hassane : My name is Ilan, I am 21 years old and I am a photographer and art director. I like to create worlds and tell stories with very few words.
I had a school career already very oriented around the work of the image. I started with a baccalaureate STD2A (Applied Arts) in Saint Etienne in France, where I learned communication, graphic design and conceptualization of artistic projects. During these two years I quickly understood that digital tools would be great assets for me. Afterwards I joined a film school in Lyon where I focused my learning around the techniques of image making and directing.
How was your passion for photography born? Can we talk about a vocation?
At the beginning I was interested in photography a little by default. I needed a tool to be able to express my ideas and after an inconclusive attempt with drawing I quickly became familiar with the digital image. Images have always been easier for me, easier to read, easier to create. They have always allowed me to compensate for my difficulties with words.
If you had to describe your universe in a few words
I do not particularly like to represent reality as we see it. I am not in a quest for authenticity or realism, I like on the contrary to modify and sublimate reality. To disguise it with my vision of “beauty” sometimes very far from the standards.
What would be your dream shoot?
A fashion/product shoot for a big house like Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci or Balmain.
The body has an important place in your work, why?
I often say that the body is for me at the same time the worker, the tool and the product. It is the body that takes the picture, it is the subject, and finally it is the body that generates the final product. The body is the key to each step of my creation.
I like the “perfection” that we can project on it or not and especially I like to play with the perception that we can create of it. To compare it and make it exist as it is not. I like to cheat, to deceive, to modify it to adapt it to my own standards. Standards that are my own and that only evolve with time.
Did shooting our bottles was a piece of cake, or did you face unexpected problems?
A new project is always full of surprises that you hadn’t thought of. But that’s exactly why I love photography. I love working in living spaces where the light is changing and where you have to adapt constantly. I love to try, to build, to deconstruct and to redo and above all I am a fan of resourcefulness so sometimes you have to revise your techniques to invent better ones.
Skin and perfume: what does it inspire you?
It evokes the idea of a meeting, an exchange. An encounter of a lifetime or the discovery of an evening.
It is also the idea that one sublimates the other reciprocally.
By the way, what is the place of perfume in your daily life?
An important place. A role more or less strong according to the moments and the occasions. Perfume contributes in a sure way to sublimate the people we are.
If you had to choose only one fragrance from our collection?
That would be ïōdé, as it is the fragrance that immediately reminds me of our beautiful project.
What makes you travel back in time most: a photo or a smell?
Both… Photos often remind me of moments marked in time, while a smell reminds me of an emotion or a feeling experienced…
Your collaboration with Carrément Belle in 1 word :
Exhilarating!
The Chinese portrait :
If you were…
- a time of the day: night
- a color: black
- a work of art: a photograph by Ren Hang
- a sense: sight
- a raw material of perfumery: orange blossom
- a song: We Cut The Night – AaRON
- a part of the body: the eyes
- one picture of your shooting for Carrément Belle: all the body pictures of pure perfumes
Check out Ilan’s work on his Instagram account here.
Do you think these new photos represent the Carrément Belle mindset?
Discover the fragrances mentioned in the article
