CURRENT MISSION

I want my camera to be a less distorting mirror to people, so I can heal them in a way

ABOUT ME

I'm a 23 year-old eurasian girl who lives in Paris (but I'm from North-East of France, I was born in a very small country town).

I made great litterature studies during two years, then studied theater (mostly theory of aesthetics) at the university. My first master's essay was about what drama can add to photography (through staged photography by Gregory Crewdson, Erwin Olaf and Julia Fullerton-Batten's work). The second master's essay dealt with the issue of representing collective traumatism in a creative way, on stage (RWANDA94 by Le Groupov, Requiem for Srebrenica by Olivier Py and Der Grote Oorlog by Hotel Modern) and through photography (Pieter Hugo, Kent Klich, Jeff Wall and Eric Baudelaire).

Now, I'm a professional photographer, especially for portraits and reportage.

I can be very calm & shy or very chatty & party-animal. Depends on the time, on the people I meet... I can always adjust on people, places and atmospheres, and feel well everywhere.

I love travelling, I've been to many places when I was younger with my parents, and I want to continue the dream here, on couchsurfing !
Being a young freelancer, I want to use that space of liberty to meet people and practice photography all around the world.
I also love learning foreign languages, even if I'm a bit rusted and I need more practice. Learning a language is a way to take a privilegied view inside a culture or a country.

Apart from that, no, I don't smile on pictures, because I don't know how to do it without showing my huge gums. Then, kids are frightened, they begin crying and things are getting complicated :p

PHILOSOPHY

It may seem quite naive or hobo but I do believe that love is the most important (and unique ?) thing one needs. A life full of adventures is nothing without anyone to love, and a very insignificant life can be all enlightened by someone to love. I don't believe in great expectations, even if I have some.
I believe in looking at somebody and try to make him/her happy, feeling he/she is worth it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

[I'm LGBT friendly and please, if you have a problem with homosexuality or transgender, I'm not the right person to meet. Prevention is better than cure.]

I can show people around in Paris when I don't have too much work ! I love to take people to places which are not mentioned in travelbooks, to show them not only the Beautiful, but also the True. I'm becoming quite lyrical here, but I believe there is also beauty outside of Paris museums, in more popular and less-known neighbourhoods. I love to see old things that nobody looks at anymore, and find life in them. This is the part of Paris I want to share.
(But I also love museums, I promise)

Concerning my couch, I cannot host most of the time, because I live in a very tiny appartment (Paris is SO expensive) and I'm often very busy. So I only use the CS Emergency group.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

[Paris is a big touristic city, I receive loads of messages everyday... I try to reply as fast as I can ! Sometimes I just don't have time, sorry / If you write me an e-mail, please just don't copy/paste a template]September : I showed the city to Artti from EstoniaI surfed Rafael's couch in Barcelona and it was AWESOME !I met Nelo for a drink in a bar, in Barcelona. Great time too :)October : I met Lance from USA at Emilia's place in Paris. So funny !April : I met Hugh and Ruby from London, and it was a very beautiful moment.August : very peaceful and enjoyable moment at Tin's place in Antwerp + crazy exploration with Jef and Ward in a village nearby. My first solo trip, first all-cs trip, and I will definitely do it again.I also met Paulo, from Brazil, we had drinks, quality talk about photography, psychology and life.I met the very nice Kassandra for a drink.I hosted (for the first time !) Momoko, from Japan, during 2 nights. I also spent time with her in the city. I enjoyed this experience very much.These are the places I've already been to: As a child :-Venice, Italy-Roma, Italy-China (many places)-Amsterdam, Holland-Austria (somewhere in the mountains, can't remember where !)-Istanbul,Turkey-Morocco (trip in the desert)-Madrid, SpainAs a teen :-London, England-Copenhague, Denmark-Dublin, Ireland-Donegal, Ireland-Naples, Italy-Brussels, Belgium-Anvers, Belgium-Liège, Belgium-Mauritius-Pokhara, Nepal-Kathmandu, Nepal-Annapurna base camp, Nepal-New York, United StatesAs a youuuung adult :-Vienna, Austria-Barcelona, Spain-Madrid, Spain-Salamanca, Spain-Kota-Baru, Malaysia-Raub, Malaysia-Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-Antwerp, Belgium-Tokyo, Japan-Enoshima, Japan-Kamakura, Japan-Kawasaki, Japan-Atami, JapanWith Couchsurfing (as a young grown-up ;))-Barcelona, Spain-Antwerp, Belgium

Interests

I love reading, writing, singing, playing (badly) the ukulele, acting, swimming, making photographs, discovering, wandering, partying, chatting, meeting interesting people...

• animals
• arts
• culture
• writing
• singing
• theater
• photography
• acting
• beauty
• concerts
• partying
• drinking
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• pottery
• hiking
• camping
• swimming
• freelancing
• languages
• psychology
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Wow, this is THE difficult question.
Dear pieces I may forget, please forgive me, I still love you. I will add other titles later.

Movies : 2046, Delicatessen, The Final Cut, The Trial, Lolita, Big Fish, Léolo, 2001 : A space Odyssey, Tree of Life, La Cité des Enfants Perdus, C'est arrivé près de chez vous, The Magdalene Sisters, Back to the future, Edward Scissorhands, Ghostbusters, Roger Rabbit, Deathproof, Inglourious Basterds, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind, Holy Grail, Life of Brian, Amadeus, No country for old men, There will be blood, Gran Torino, Blindness, Farewell my Concubine, Brazil, Clockwork Orange, Broken Flowers, La Piel que Habito...

Anime : Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Porco Rosso, Kiki's delivery service, Howl's Moving CCastle, Laputa Castle in the sky, Nausicäa, Ponyo on the Cliff by the sea, Pompoko, Whisper of the heart, Paprika, Perfect Blue, Paranoïa Agent, Jin-Roh, Summer Wars, Mindgame, Tekkonkinkreet, Grave of the Fireflies, The Girl who Leapt Through, Ghost in the Shell, My parents the Yamada, Ranma 1/2, Akira. // South Park, The Simpsons, Futurama, Daria, Les Triplettes de Belleville.

Shows : Carnivale, Six Feet Under, Breaking Bad, The Lost Room, Dr House, Dexter, Lost, Heroes, Oz

Music :
CLASSICAL : Mahler, Bruckner, Dvorak, Rutti, Fauré, Berlioz, Rachmaninov.
OTHER : Boris Vian, Joe Hisaishi, Radiohead, The Dresden Dolls, Air, Cocorosie, Feist, Sarah Vaughan, Cat Power, David Bowie, Ulver, Einsturzende Neubauten, The Bowell Sisters, Kahimi Karie, Juliette, Antony & The Johnsons, Mano Solo, Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Barbara, The Beatles, Nouvelle Vague, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Les Fatals Picards, Serge Gainsbourg, Depeche Mode, Noir Desir, Dionysos, Eels, Frank Sinatra, Philippe Katerine, Leonard Cohen, M, Nancy Sinatra, Olivia Ruiz, Thiéfaine, Richard Cheese, Pink Floyd, Portishead,Björk, Renaud, She Wants Revenge, Woven Hand, 16 Horse Power...

Books : 1984, Confusion of Feelings, The Idiot, La Chartreuse de Parme, Le Hussard sur le Toit, Harry Potter (hum, yeah I know, but !), The Trial, L'Ecume des Jours, The Massacre at Paris, The Road, Scenes from an execution, the War Plays, Quelque chose noir, La Peste, all Hanockh Levin's plays...

hum, ok, I have to check my personal library.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

-Annapurna Base Camp : A two-week long hiking in Nepal, away from everything, when I was 16.

-I've also experienced sleep paralysis very often ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis )

-I was part of the choir at the Zenith (Paris) during Joe Hisaishi's concert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED84IY15YgQ

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you basic skills in photography and photoshop and I know a few things about french culture ;) (including litterature)

I want to learn many many many things.
-LANGUAGES ! (Chinese, Japanese, Italian, more Spanish, and then we'll see)
-Ceramics
-New cultures
-New forms of art
-Psychology
... I can't think of everything right now, I'm just interested in almost everything.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, China, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France

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