“The best time to think and to be efficient for me is at night. No phone calls or things disturbing me. I love it.” says the talented Paris based photographer Pierre dal Corso. He started his career only three years ago and has put his focus on powerful fashion photography. His images bring across a very sensual and confident feeling with a great use of colours and light reflections.  We are very pleased to interview Pierre where he tells us about one of his hardest shootings and what a usual work day looks like…

First of all – tell us a little bit about you – who is Pierre, where do you live?
I was born in 1977 in the South West of France. I am currently based in Paris.

Your steps into the world of photography – a wish and dream or something that just happened? I was studying art history and painting and spent a few years assisting in New York and Paris. I have never done any pictures while assisting and 2 years ago I kind of woke up one day and decided to build my portfolio. I have been lucky enough to get terasheets out of my tests quickly and things started like that.

Are most of the shootings in your portfolio client-work or personal projects?
All my portfolio work is from my editorials. They are all personal projects that I managed to get published. I decided to build my portfolio in a very personal way, not trying to look like all I can see around me, mainly focusing on editorials to build my image and not looking after clients. I don´t really believe in following visual trends. I keep on doing my thing as much as I can and hopefully clients will notice me. I am also looking for an agent!

How does a normal work-day in the life of Pierre looks like?
Difficult to say. I spend a lot of time in front of my computer screens for sure. And the usual things I would say: casting, shooting, post production… the best time to think and to be efficient for me is at night. No phone calls or things disturbing me. I love it. I spend nights with retouching.

Many of your photos contain a lot of colour or one colour that is very strong. Some of them look like as if they have a colour-layer on it… do you plan this kind of look before the shooting or after the final image?
I usually plan it and I know how I want it to look like before shooting. I love colours. Sometimes it´s all about make-up or light or post production. I allow myself to use all the existing tools.

Are you more the quiet type of photographer when surrounded by your team? You should ask my team better than me. I am usually calm and quiet I think, but at the same time I need a very strong and energetic team. It has to be balanced I guess.

What makes the perfect model for you? It all depends on the project I would say. One girl can be perfect for a shoot and not fitting for another story.

Do you technically plan these shootings -the light, the setting and styling – days or weeks before or are you more “let’s see, what happens”? I usually do mood boards for the team and the model to show them where I want to go and talk about directions. Sometimes it can go fast when there is nothing to prepare but some projects can be prepared up to a month before.

Do you work alone and often with different people on the set or do you always have the same team around you?
It depends on the project. Sometimes alone but I usually work with a team: stylist, make-up artist, hair dresser, manicurist, assistants… I love my team for their energy and personal point of view. I don´t always work with the same people, I try to adapt the team to the project

Analog or digital? What kind of equipment do you use – and what kind of software for retouching? Mac or Win?
Digital. It makes thing so easy for me. Same here, I try to adapt my equipment to the project. I can shoot ambient light or flash or whatever. Mac. Photoshop …

Your personal biggest/best shooting in your career?
I couldn´t say. Many of them have been big to me…

And your hardest shooting? Why?
In a Moroccan stone desert. It started at 5 a.m. in the morning. 12 pictures with 12 different hair&make-up looks. I was shooting nonstop and couldn’t properly look at the pictures during the day. When I came back to Paris and checked the pictures, I realized there was a technical problem on every single picture. I almost cried. It took me a week of work to make it look normal…

How long do you usually work on a story? Over weeks and months or usually in one-two days?
Usually 2 weeks between having the idea, getting it together with my stylist, casting shooting and post prod. I like to do the retouching right after the shoot. If I wait for too long, I kind of lose the original feeling and don’t want to retouch anymore.

What kind of magazines do you read?
Art, cinema, I don´t buy a lot fashion magazines. There are already so many pictures on the internet!

Is the work that you find inside magazines of other photographers important for you – let’s say for inspiration or to compare techniques or to “learn”? I´m always curious to see what´s going on in the business in terms of imagery, but I´m not addicted to fashion magazines, mainly because I am very often disappointed by the lack of new talents or creativity or risks.

What can we except from you in the next five years?
Good question. Let´s talk about that in five years!

Your dream shooting?
I am fantasizing about shooting couture with wild animals.

Last question – five things you can’t live without?
Love, music, food, air & coke zero

www.pierredalcorso.com