The temporary exhibition "What’s New in the Studio" - The Sensual Countess - Gallant Impertinence

Updated on 26 September 2026

Here we are already: it is the last week of our monthly cycle. To conclude this visual adventure, it’s the turn of What’s New in the Studio. This is often where I gather my most recent work, my lighting research or my technical favourites. Whether complex portraits or cinematic stagings, this category is the laboratory of my latest inspirations. It is my way of ending the month with you on a strong, creative note.

The Sensual Countess Gallant Impertinence

The Sensual Countess - Gallant Impertinence

For this series, I wanted to escape the powdered melancholy of formal portraits. What interested me about Marie Antoinette was not the stifling pomp of Versailles, but the breach of independence she carved out for herself at the Hameau de la Reine: a space of insolent freedom where corsets, conventions and the weight of protocol are sent flying.

In the studio, the session was built around a hearty burst of laughter. Not a polished or feigned smile for the lens, but a raw, almost rebellious jubilation. My model never sought to be looked at passively; she inhabited the set with a sovereign presence, playing with the fabrics, diverting the gauze and the crumpled linen the way one gets around a rule that is too strict. In this approach, the Art of the Nude takes on its full meaning: far from voyeurism, the unveiling becomes an act of emancipation, a way of asserting one’s own space with boldness and lightness.

Coming from sculpture, I can’t help thinking of every shot as bas-relief work. Facing the neutral studio backdrop, I wanted to recover that visual substance particular to eighteenth-century canvases, without the make-up. I shaped the light with a large diffuse source softened by a silver reflector, to caress the material: the rough weave of an old drape, the curve of a hip, the clean line of a shoulder in full movement. Every shadow becomes a line of force, every shift of light a sculptural caress. My role is not to order a well-behaved pose, but to carve into the shadow to reveal volumes, the density of flesh and the authentic vibration of grain. Skin is never an inert surface; it is a living modelling that catches the glint, warms up and answers contrast.

There is in these images a dreamlike quality tinged with mischief, where the historical reference fades in favour of the present moment. This exploration of the Artistic Nude refuses submission to the gaze of the other to assert a jubilant sensuality, fully in command of itself. Making Art photography, for me, is exactly that: kneading the light until it tells the story of an unruly, vibrant and free body. This is the sensual countess.

To see this week’s exhibitions or all of my work, here are the options:

Access with a member account	The temporary exhibitions	The Reserve the Patrons’ Circle

And so our month in images comes to an end. I hope you enjoyed discovering these four series as much as I enjoyed creating them. If you missed an episode or want to dive without limit into all of these galleries (and the previous ones), the Pass remains the best way to support my work and miss nothing. Thank you for your loyalty, and see you next month for new stories!

Yohann

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