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Motel Chronicles by Charlotte Moulard

Charlotte Moulard was born into a storyteller family, and was fascinated by illustration and photography already as a child. In 2005 she discovered art, and while studying at ESAG in Paris she fell in love with graphic design and photography. “It was a decisive meeting for my future,” she tells us. “After graduating, I first worked as a junior Art Director in agencies and for luxury brands before going back to school in 2008 at Les Gobelins (Paris) to improve my technical knowledge of Photography.

Her the journey and the experiences she gained before settling for photography differentiates her approach from other’s in the same trade, as she keeps planning projects as a true art director would: “- Yes, I keep thinking about a series’ concept first as an art director would do : composition, typography and color. Fashion photography gives me the opportunity to be as free I would like. As a conceptual storyteller, I’m always inspired by the meeting of reality and imagination that we find in tales and strange stories.

“Within the freedom of tone and time, limitless creation is possible and poetry can be the master of the picture.”

Although she’s done photography for many years, as he claims she’s only been a professional fashion photographer for about three years, securing features in Stella and Paulette.

Today she’s getting her first Ben Trovato feature, something we are utterly enthusiastic about. Not only because we get to show you another great fashion story, but because we are huge fans of Charlotte’s style and approach.

Motel Chronicles is inspired by “[...] the road-movie style, and more precisely Paris-Texas by Wim Wenders,” Charlotte explains. “I feel heavily influenced by these kind of movies less focused on action than on the character’s feelings. This story is a freeze-frame, a contemplation of a waiting woman. There is no time references : she tries to escape for boredom… and in the same time, she’s waiting for something. Yellow and red colors are important here because it refers to hot and dry American West Coast.

Natascha Haack from Slides takes the role of the waiting woman, and she plays the role to perfection. “She was fantastic. She played the uncertain feel so well, the waiting feeling and fear… To prepare this role, she watched Paris-Texas movie and drew her inspiration from Nastassja Kinski’s face expressions.

The stylist, Julie Nivert, created a light, feline and graphic silhouette playing with femininity and proportions:”- The aim of the story was to find different clothes and create a feline silhouette for the girl, but I had to follow the narration which was the most important,” Julie explains. “The girl could change her clothes but it had to be done really naturally to help the story. I choose red or black clothes, in reference to Paris -Texas movie, to create a link during all the serie. And I played with fabrics, proportions and details to create this evanescent girl lost in this motel…

Credits
Photography and art direction by Charlotte Moulard
Model - Natascha Haack @ Slides Model Agency
Styling by Julie Nivert
Hair by Elodie Hue @ Toni&Guy France
Makeup by Asami Kawaï
Location - Hôtel des Sables d’Or, North of France