Pauline Ballet

Pauline was born and spent her early years in Lyon, in the broadest sense. She quickly began to move around, along with her family, following in her father's footsteps, whose professional obligations took him here and there. She was ten years old and living in Istanbul, where her love of photography was born. It came naturally, through what she saw. The monuments, the light rising over the Bosphorus... She began capturing all of this using disposable cameras, which she consumed in unbridled quantities.

A little later, settled in the western suburbs, she often came to discover Paris and literally ransacked the tourist shops on the banks of the Seine. There she bought postcards of humanists, Henri Cartier Breson, Robert Doisneau, Willy Ronis who told the story of the Paris of the past.

His room is covered with it.

His parents decided that they would have to help him quench this unquenchable thirst and gave him his first camera, an Olympus that came from Uncle Robby who had left him a bit high and dry.

She loves the object, wants to learn and searches the internet for tutorials that offer, in essence: "Learn black and white photography."

There, she landed an internship in Uzès, led by Yann de Fareins and his wife, also a photographer. Yan graduated from the famous National School of Photography in Arles, a must.

They teach all aspects of photography: shooting, developing film, and making prints. Even today, she considers Yann to have been instrumental in her career.

She also wants to join the famous school but must complete two years of university studies; you need a two-year degree before applying.

She found a hybrid degree in literature and art, with the art section focusing on the history of cinema. She enjoyed it and continued to add to the iconography on her hard drive.

She is admitted to the school where she sometimes feels out of place, as if she doesn't belong. Most of the students in her year are already in their artistic projects, more accomplished, more confident. She is still searching for herself.

She completed several internships at Télérama, under the protective wing of Laurent Abadjian, the director of photography. She was very interested in the work of the great portrait photographers who collaborated with the magazine; it fascinated her, but she didn't do any. She wanted to capture the moment.

A little lost when she started her professional life, she told herself that she would find a part-time job in photography to give herself time to think.

She joined ASO (Amaury Sports Organisation) and worked in the archives. She sorted, classified, and captioned event photographs, and sometimes what she saw was a bit irritating. The management remembered her training and offered her a job as a photographer at some of the races organized by the company.

She applies her way of doing and seeing things above all. She is immediately captivated by this universe.

One of her first outings takes her to the excitement of the Mur de Huy, the final climb of the La, which is a major cycling venue. The spectacle is on the road and on the sidewalks. She is captivated, and so are her bosses:

"How do you do that? It's great."

They weren't stupid, but they immediately understood that their race was more beautiful in Pauline's eyes. A few months later, she was at the start of the Tour de France, for ASO, the organizer, of course.

For a while, she imagines doing this while she waits. She racks her brains about her real project. One day, she says to herself: "But why are you thinking about your dream since you're already living it?"

Pauline, now independent, is a sports photographer; this world continues to fascinate her and she can't imagine how it could end.