Food and hospitality photographer in Dakar
I worked three times in one year for the same property on the Corniche Ouest: the Hôtel Terrou-Bi reportage in February 2025, content creation at Le Diamono in April, then a photo and video production in December. Both project pages are published on this site.
Three commissions for the same property, in one year
It started with a cold approach during a stay in Dakar in January 2025. Contract signed on 10 February, shoot on the 13th and 14th: two days for a property of 168 rooms and 10 suites, its private beach, its gardens, its restaurants and its teams. The detail is in the Terrou-Bi project page.
A purchase order followed in early April for content creation at Le Diamono, the property’s listening bar: scout on the 9th, shoot on the 10th, 11th and 12th. A third commission was approved on 5 November 2025 for a December production. Three separate commissions, from the same marketing department, across twelve months.
The light in Dakar is not studio light
In February the sun is vertical and cloudless from ten in the morning, and it is bounced twice over: by pale sand and by the ocean. Outdoors, the usable window runs no longer than two hours in the morning and an hour and a half in the evening. For the rest of the day a pool and a beach return white.
The consequence is a matter of scheduling, not of kit. Days are cut by the light rather than by the spaces: teams and service indoors while the light dictates outside, beach and pool at exactly the hour when the sand stops burning the frame. On this production the property itself asked for the beach on the morning of the second day, and the slot was held.
A listening bar is not photographed like a hotel bar
Le Diamono is a hi-fi bar in the sense of the Japanese kissa: turntables, a wall of vinyl, Harbeth speakers, Rotel amplification, and a list of about a dozen signatures built around West African spices. The problem states itself: what makes the place cannot be seen. Sound does not photograph, and a frame showing only bottles could have been taken anywhere.
The room is also deliberately kept dark, held together by table lamps, lit bottle niches and a strip under the banquette, all at different colour temperatures. Adding a source would have rendered a different room from the one guests sit in. Nothing was added indoors, and the wall of vinyl became the way to show what sound cannot: the record being pulled, the hand that chooses it. In 2026 the bar was placed in the Middle East and Africa Top 10 of the Spirited Awards, in the Best New International Cocktail Bar category.
Output formats are decided before the framing
On both productions the property supplied its communication material and its publication schedule in advance. That sounds administrative; in practice it is what removes the need to crop afterwards. A scene shot straight into the expected vertical holds better than a cropped horizontal, because the composition was built for that frame rather than against it.
It is also what made it possible to add, mid-production, slow food videos built for the property’s Reels rather than generic cutaways. The proposal was accepted and shot on the spot.
Working from France on a Senegalese production
I am based in Marseille and I travel. A production in Dakar is scheduled like a European one, with three differences: the scout happens on site the day before rather than two weeks ahead, kit travels in the hold with the redundancy that implies, and delivery goes by share link rather than on a drive.
The rest is unchanged. The quote states the days, the deliverables and the intended use; the retouched photographs from the February reportage were delivered on 3 March 2025. For a hotel project elsewhere the same logic applies: see the hospitality pillar and the Paris hotel page.
Two days for a hundred and seventy-eight keys
Hôtel Terrou-Bi is a five-star on the Corniche Ouest, with a private beach, a marina and a casino. Two shooting days in February 2025 had to cover the exteriors, the food and the teams. The project page gives the schedule that was chosen, why the beach was shot on the morning of the second day, and what was delivered on 3 March.
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 questions
Do you travel from France for a production in Dakar?
- Yes. The three commissions described here were carried out on site, in Dakar, between February and December 2025, from a base in France. Travel and scouting time appear on the quote.
How many days does a full hotel take?
- Two days cover the exteriors, part of the food offer and the teams of a property of that size, provided the schedule is settled beforehand. Covering every room exhaustively takes longer, especially when they are not identical.
Do you deliver video as well?
- Yes, and often within the same production. At the Terrou-Bi, slow food loops were added mid-shoot for the property’s Reels. At Le Diamono, video was part of the commission from the purchase order onward.
Do you light bar rooms?
- As little as possible. At Le Diamono nothing was added indoors: the room is held by its own sources, and an added light would have rendered a different room from the one guests sit in.
A project in Dakar
Tell me the property, the spaces to cover and the publication schedule you are working to. I answer with a number of days, what is delivered and by when.