Mathilde Lesueur (she/her) is a French fashion photographer and art director based in Paris. She graduated from ECAL in 2024 with a Bachelor’s degree in Photography. Her work combines analog photography with newer digital tools, like CGI and AI, as she continues to experiment with how an image can be made and manipulated.
Her approach is soft and intimate, with a recurring interest in sisterhood and the relationships between women. Hair often appears in her editorials as a way to think about transformation and identity. Changing its color or shape can change the way we see ourselves and open up different versions of who we might be. Mathilde uses hair as a form of self-expression and as a sculptural element within her art.
Your fashion images often feel closer to sculpture than advertising. How do you balance the needs of a client with your own artistic perspective?
In these places, I find a comforting melancholy in the search for freedom, belonging, and desire. I’m drawn to spaces that carry the weight of a past story while allowing me to write a new one of my own.
What draws you to working with such a limited range of color?
Self-portraiture allows me to fully immerse myself in my own creative world. I’ve come to recognize a fiery, sensual side of myself that seeks to evoke feeling through my work. As an artist, I’m drawn to exploring both the fantasy and the truth that exist within a moment, and the space where the two begin to blur. There’s something so beautiful to me about that ambiguity.
Do you find the photograph while you're shooting, or later while editing?
Yes, this photograph is near and dear to me. I was staying in an old motel, and the room became a world of its own—filled with smoke, dancing, and dress-up. This image uses sensuality to explore the feeling of freedom alongside loneliness. I’m drawn to capturing the fleeting nature of memory & holding onto a moment in a way that feels both intimate and melancholy.
What are you paying attention to lately that has nothing to do with photography?
Lately, I’ve been creatively inspired by writing and sound. I love sitting alone in an old diner or dive bar and simply listening. There’s connection, hope, and vulnerability that hide within the mundane and the people I encounter. I sit, listen, and write whatever comes to mind.
Keep up with Mathilde Lesueur
Photos courtesy of Mathilde Lesueur.
