Jennifer Orhélys’s images feel like a breathless dream. The characters are beautiful but obscured; they feel close but just out of reach. The effect is mesmerizing like remembering a dream. Take a moment with her work; the more time spent with them, the more one appreciates her attention to soft, subtle details.
“Jennifer Orhélys is the epitome of the twenty-first century photographer: passionate and driven, she is multitalented artist who assumes the creative roles of director, photographer, make –up artist, stylist and model,… all at once.
As she introduces us to her world to her work ethics and to some of the pieces in her glossy, vibrant and absolutely surreal portfolio, we have come to realize just how much work this dedicated French artist puts into her brilliant self-portraits. What endears us to Jennifer is her inclination, as she puts it. “Take a picture when expressing me through words doesn’t work.” Perfectly encapsulating the feelings she experiences at the time of a shoot, her photographs give off an undeniably deep aura rich in meaning and emotion- an aura which in fact. Jennifer manages to preserve throughout each shoot “not taking many photos so as not to distort the atmosphere” and by “working for no more than one hour”.
Considering her scholarly background in film and photography, two of the most powerful visual forms through which the vast range of human emotions can be so intricately, it is no wonder that Jennifer manages to pull this off with such finesse and know-how.
To find her inspiration Jennifer contemplates the works of other self portrait artists like herself, including Kimiko Yoshida, Ellen Kooi, Elina Brotherus and Cindy Sherman. Likes a true actress determined to conveyed an accurate concept and emotion to her viewers, she undertakes extensive research to gather a variety of make –up ideas and construct a unique character:”[Make-up] is an essential part of a shoot because it’s when I make myself up that I become the character I want to play.”
Jennifer enjoys exploring themes of “romanticism, fairytales, surrealism, hyper-femininity, the universe and the stars, and the beauty of the nature”, through her work, which shows that her dreamlike photographs are a pure reflection of her wandering mind and spirit. Filled which wild emotions and idyllic shoot is perfectly captured moment in time-an intimate, delicate and simply beautiful moment you can certain you will want to discover for yourself.”
