Elin Hornfeldt
Marie Steiss
So, the shoot today went well?
Yes! Very quick and smooth. We always have a very clear and precise way of working together.
What were your favourite parts of the shoot?
All of them cause each one is different. I'm quite into b&w images these days… or that day! So the coffee shop I’d say. I loved all the places, but the coffee shop was very fun!
What was the idea / theme for the story?
We have talked about doing a shoot again together & we finally managed to sync our schedules and were also lucky with the weather… which can be tricky in Paris this time of year! Anyways… Marie wanted to shoot in Ile St Louis and knew some locations there. I wanted to take portraits of her in the environments she chose. These particular indoor scenes were found by me and my assistant Christian during an extended/long lunch break when Marie went to a meeting.
And the styling?
Well… At this shoot it was only me, Marie and my assistant Christian. I wanted to keep the styling, make up & hair very close to Marie’s personal style. She came in her gorgeous natural self and with a huge bag full of clothes, and we selected the outfits in the coffee shop.
You’ve photographed Marie before — How did you two first meet and how did this shoot compare to the last one?
Yes! We met in 2006 at a shoot for French Vogue when Marie was introduced as the new face of Givenchy’s perfume Ange ou Demon. I wanted to keep the method more or less the same as then: set environments where Marie can act and play in her way. I absolutely love working with Marie cause we get along very well. She is amazing in front of camera and has a great personality. She also comes with her own ideas and has a great art eye. So, we collaborate very well in directing the scenes together. I always love to add that ‘persona’ angle when I can to keep the ‘vision’ close to the person I’m photographing… this and ‘free real scenes’ to embrace the person or character in the shoot.