Brand visual
A constructed image, often in studio or on a built set, meant to carry a product over a long period. The most demanding in preparation and the most rewarding in lifespan.
Advertising photographer, food and drink
An advertising commission differs from an editorial one not in the difficulty of the shoot but in what the image goes on to do. It will be seen outside the context that explains it, at a size that forgives nothing, for a negotiated period. Everything else follows: the level of finish, the team, and the price.
What changes when an image becomes advertising
A restaurant photograph is looked at by someone already looking for that restaurant. A campaign photograph is looked at by someone who was looking for nothing, on a metro platform, for four seconds. It has to read immediately and hold at a size where the slightest softness or colour drift becomes visible.
That moves the work upstream. Framing is decided beforehand, against the output formats, because a visual destined for a billboard and a vertical variant for a social feed are not shot at the same moment with the same margin. What was not planned on set cannot be recovered by cropping.
And it moves the negotiation towards rights. The price of a campaign visual does not come from hours spent, it comes from use, duration and territory. That is set out in detail on the image licensing page.
Three kinds of commission
Behind “food advertising”, the briefs that arrive almost always fall into one of three boxes. They call for neither the same set-up nor the same team, and confusing them is the commonest reason a quote lands wide of the mark.
Brand activation and events
An evening, a competition, a launch: the brand creates the event and the images have to account for it the next day. The shoot happens in real conditions, without stopping what is going on, and delivery is fast by necessity.
Distribution content
Visuals produced for a distributor or a retail network, declined across ranges and formats. What counts here is consistency from one reference to the next, more than the singularity of any one frame.
Working with an agency
When an agency is in the loop, the brief arrives written and the job is not to reinterpret it but to make it possible. What I bring at that point is a feasibility read: what fits in a day and what does not, what needs a stylist, what will have to be built twice.
The rest of the set-up — food styling, art direction on set, assisting, production management — is assembled to suit the commission. I do not claim to carry it alone when it needs a team, and saying so at quoting stage beats discovering it the night before.
Campaigns already delivered sit among the productions, with their real constraints.
The legal frame, on alcoholic drinks
Any campaign involving an alcoholic drink is governed in France by the loi Évin, which limits what a visual may show and requires the health notice. In practice that rules out staging consumption, and situations associating the product with performance or social success.
Those constraints are taken into account at framing, not at sign-off. A compliant image gets photographed; a non-compliant one gets reshot.
Campaign visuals
A selection from brand productions, spirits and food alike.
A campaign released in DOOH
La Douce Heure, for St-Germain at Galeries Lafayette: visuals produced on site and released on digital out-of-home, with the format and legibility constraints that imposes.
What clients say
Reviews published on Ahoueke Hilaire’s Google listing, reproduced here word for word.
J’ai eu l’occasion de collaborer avec Hilaire sur plusieurs projets différents et j’ai particulièrement apprécié son approche du métier. Au-delà de la qualité technique des photos, il sait réellement comprendre un plat, mettre en valeur les détails et retranscrire l’intention, l’humain. Les échanges sont simples, professionnels et agréables, avec une vraie capacité à s’adapter aux contraintes d’une cuisine professionnelle. Un travail précis, créatif et toujours réalisé avec beaucoup de sérieux. Je le recommande vivement pour tout projet de photographie culinaire.
Nous cherchions un photographe capable de shooter à la fois nos chambres, notre spa et la carte du restaurant sur trois jours, sans mobiliser une équipe entière. Hilaire est arrivé seul, a travaillé en lumière naturelle le matin et au flash pour les ambiances du soir, et nous a livré 180 images retouchées en dix jours. Nous les utilisons depuis sur notre site, nos réseaux et nos supports de vente
« Nous avions besoin de packshots et de visuels d'ambiance cocktail pour un lancement national. Hilaire a construit les recettes visuelles avec notre ambassadeur, géré les fonds, les glaçons, la condensation, tout ce qui fait qu'un cocktail tient à l'image. Les visuels sont partis en PLV et en digital sans retouche supplémentaire. »
Je recommande fortement Hilaire. Nous avions un enjeu de cohérence : cinq adresses, cinq styles photo différents. Hilaire a proposé une direction visuelle unique et l'a tenue d'un établissement à l'autre. Il comprend vite les contraintes d'un groupe, il est autonome sur place et il ne perturbe pas l'exploitation.
Nous souhaitions des Reels de préparation, pas seulement des photos. Hilaire filme et photographie sur la même session, ce qui nous évite de bloquer le bar deux fois. Les vidéos de verse au ralenti tournent encore un an après et on grandement contribué à la visibilité de l’établissement! Un prestataire fiable auquel nous ferons de nouveau appel sans la moindre reserve!
Nous sommes une petite affaire, on ne pouvait pas se permettre une production. Hilaire a proposé une demi-journée avec une sélection resserrée, au prix annoncé, sans extras surprises. C'était exactement le bon format pour nous.
J'ai été client d'Hilaire pour de la photographie culinaire, son talent et sa passion ont rendu grâce à nos plats ! Un véritable professionnel avec qui j'ai hâte de travailler à nouveau
Je recommande vivement! Hilaire est professionnel, disponible et à l’écoute. Il a su s’adapter à notre projet, budget et a fourni un travail irréprochable! 5*
Frequently asked, advertising
How is a campaign visual quoted?
- From the licence first: what the image is for, for how long, in which territory and on which media. Production time comes after. The same visual does not carry the same price for a three-month social feed and a two-year national billboard run.
Do you work with a food stylist?
- When the commission calls for it, yes, and it is stated at quoting stage. A dish that has to hold for hours under built light is not prepared like a service plate, and that is a trade distinct from mine.
Can you deliver several formats of the same visual?
- Yes, provided the formats are known before the shoot. Variants are prepared by leaving margin in the frame; pulled afterwards from a tightly framed image, they lose the subject.
Do you only work in France?
- No. Productions have taken place in London, Dakar and Marrakech. Travel and its conditions go into the quote like everything else.
Do you shoot video as well?
- Short formats for social, yes, captured on the same shoot. A standalone video production belongs to another set-up and another team, and I say so rather than absorb it.
A campaign to produce?
The most useful starting point is the media plan: where the images will run, in what formats and for how long. The rest is built from there.