They dress alike, do synchronized dancing to Asian pop songs and they are quickly making a major impact on the fashion photography scene. This young couple in love from Paris are known as Cesar Love Alexandre and to those who get to know them as Isabelle Chaput and Nelson Tiberghien. They fell in love while studying photography at Les Gobelins and ever since they have been inseparable. They are only 24 and 25 years old but they have already been published in 18 magazines including Schön, Superior and Elle.
Cesar Love Alexandre have already contributed their fresh and creative talents to IRK Magazine several times and are in our newest issue "LOCOMOTION" with their "Lady Vengeance" trucker editorial.
Where did you get your inspiration for Lady Vengeance and where do you usually get your inspiration from (film, music, art, pinterest…)?
We have the luck of being two huge children, being amused and excited by everything, we are both extremely curious which leads us to absorb everything around us like sponges. So as we get a lot of inspirations from movies, culture, music and art, we also get a lot of inspirations from our everyday lives, from the streets, the supermarket, from youtube and internet, from people around us, and even from each other. We also have the fortune of being surrounded by amazing artists, as a lot of our friends work in the field of art, which helps to keep a sharp eye!
For Lady Vengeance in particular, we based this piece on several references: we incorporated Isabelle’s typological and documentary approach to Nelson’s cinematographic narration to create the story of a vengeful woman seeking for a ride on a truck parking lot.
What is your process for creating a shoot?
Usually it starts by discussing an idea, that will then grow into a concept, and will lead to the creation of a moodboard illustrating our idea in details. We then start building a team of model, makeup and hair artists, and stylists, that would correspond to the artistic direction of the shoot.
About how many shoots do you do a month?
We try to do as many shoots as we can, and because there is two of us, it allows us to be very productive, so we try to do one shoot per week in general, even though it depends on the type of shoot we produce. For bigger projects we might require a little bit more time to take care of the production. So we would say between 3 and 4 shoots a month.
You not only take amazing photographs but you also do dynamic and interesting fashion films. How important is it for you to do a film with your editorials? Do you think it is necessary for all fashion photographers to do both?
Thank you! We both are huge cinephiles and have always associated video as an extension of photography. For us film, just like photography is a medium to express a vision, and we don’t exclude other mediums as well as our concept is to have no boundaries, to work with everything and everyone. We always love to do a film when we shoot and we think it is also the present of fashion photography, as it is a medium associated with our generation. It feeds a need that fashion has now, with instagram and facebook. People love interactivity and the need for videos and moving images increased a lot. We don’t think it is necessary for all fashion photographers to do both as it really depends on the essence of the artist’s way of working, but it is sure that it is a very popular form nowadays.
Do you have a concept for every film or is it usually a byproduct of the still editorials?
It really depends, sometimes we just have an idea on the spot while shooting an editorial, but we also create whole concepts solely focused on a fashion film, or we also shoot on the spot some content then come back on it with a concept created by post-production. There is no rules in our process really! :)
You are published in artistic, well-known, high-quality magazines, such as Schön, Teeth, Eclectic, and of course IRK Magazine ;). What advice would you give photographers for submitting work?
We would say keep pushing until they accept it! Determination is key! And also we think that having a true meaning, a true story, a true concept behind a story makes all the difference. The market is saturated with photographers and images, often responding to the same references and with no true soul. So giving a little bit of explanation to the work is always a good thing in our opinion!
You work as a couple and you seem to be very in sync with each other. Even dressing the same daily. :)
Is there any particular reason why you have decided to work together and do you think there are differences between working together and working alone?
We started working together because we were so in love that we couldn’t spend time apart from each other haha! No the real reason, apart from the one that we fell in love, is -first of all- that we work extremely well together, and second of all, that we share one mind, one goal, one passion, etc. We almost always think alike, and always are in sync with what we want to do as photographers. Of course we are different, and that’s even better as our qualities and weaknesses mix perfectly. In this industry, working alone can be really challenging, as you need to be always strong, self-confident, on point, aware of everything that is happening, day and night on your phone, you need to be your own agent, to show yourself to events so people can know who you are, etc. It can be tough on someone who is alone, because you always second guess yourself when you create something for the public. When we work together, we found that it is the perfect balance for us, as one prevents the other’s demons to take over and vice versa. We both are fuel to each other, which makes us always go forward and never back. And we do not only dress alike daily, we also dance to kpop songs in sync! ;)
Do you have any limitations working as a couple? We guess working as a couple can be a great gift and sometimes a big challenge at the same time. We have asked ourselves if you are always in sync with your ideas and the realization or do you have to find compromises sometimes?
Compromise is always there, compromise is something everyone has to do on a daily basis, so of course, we are not an exception, it is a part of our daily lives, as artists, as humans and as a couple! We are lucky enough that we almost always agree on everything, and that even when we don’t, the solution is never a struggle, because we have the same taste. But yes, we do have to compromise on some projects, and that’s what makes them even better, and that makes them the true fruit of our two minds colliding and responding to one another!
We know you recently moved to NY and congratulate you on getting a NY agent. How is it going so far and what's next for Cesar Loves Alexandre?
Thank you! We can eat pizza and cupcakes whenever we want now!! It’s going great, we are currently looking for an apartment and it’s really exciting, and we have a few new projects coming up so stay tuned!
Next is for the world to get conquered by Cesar Love Alexandre! ;)
More info
Instagram: @cesarlovealexandre
Agent: theindustrymgmt.com
Portrait of Cesar Love Alexandre by Sylvain Lewis
