I photograph what is eaten and what is drunk, for brands, agencies, hotels and restaurants in Paris. Five productions shot in Paris are published on this site. The base is Marseille, and travel is not billed.
Most city pages you will find on this query are templates where only the city name changes. This one exists because five productions actually happened in Paris, and all five are published here with their images and the constraint on the day.
The first is the opening of La Douce Heure, the St-Germain rooftop bar at Galeries Lafayette Haussmann: five out-of-home and DOOH visuals, produced by Monks, running on the store’s screens. The second is Last Round, the Jack Daniel’s bartender competition, a final built in four minutes in front of a jury, on 15 May 2023.
The third is the Nikka Perfect Serve global finals, two days of competition at Bar Fréquence in December 2024, for La Maison du Whisky, seven hundred images delivered and part of the set picked up by the trade press. The fourth is the launch of the Alain Milliat sparkling grape juices, packshot and lifestyle for the house itself. The fifth is the opening of the Paris leg of the Hennessy Very Special Tour at Journey, on 13 November 2025: the pairings of chef Sho Miyashita and bartender Robin Jude Le Texier.
An out-of-home campaign, an event that cannot be re-run, two days of continuous coverage, a product launch and a brand night: between them they cover most of what Paris briefs ask for.
Paris is where campaigns are decided. A visual that will end up in out-of-home, DOOH or on packaging has different demands from a menu shot: it has to hold across long series, leave room for the headline and the logotype, and come with a licence priced from the first conversation.
A Paris hotel shoot feeds three image banks that do not follow the same rules: the website and booking platforms, press, social. Framing them separately from the shot list on avoids paying twice for the same slot, which in Paris is booked by the hour.
A menu is photographed at the tempo of service, not against it. The protocol is agreed with the chef or head bartender beforehand: a work station out of the way, a running order for the dishes decided the day before, and the room shot before opening while it is still intact.
The difference is not the light, it is the slot. In Paris a rooftop, a hotel salon or a department-store terrace opens up for a precise window, usually before the public is let in, and there is no next day. Whatever was not made inside the window will not exist.
In practice that means arriving with a written, ranked shot list, knowing which pictures have to exist whatever happens, and deciding on the spot rather than hoping for a second visit. On La Douce Heure the running order was fixed before going up on the roof, because the light was falling faster than the bar was being built.
There is also a physical constraint people underestimate: kit goes up and comes down in tight spaces, with no truck parked outside, so what you leave behind has to be decided too. One extra light that will not fit in the lift costs an hour of a three-hour window.
A classic Paris room gives high, soft, side light that drops quickly in the afternoon and turns distinctly warm under the wall lights once night falls. Pleasant for a bar atmosphere, unworkable for a menu that has to stay colour-accurate from one dish to the next.
The answer is not to flash everything, which kills the room, but to decide at the recce what is made in daylight and what is made in built light. A bottle packshot and a counter still life are worked calmly, under controlled light, while the room is still being set. Service and faces are taken in daylight.
Mixing the two inside one day is what produces a coherent image bank rather than a patchwork, and it is decided before a camera comes out of the bag.
Paris is three hours by train, and travel is not billed, transport and accommodation included. That is a deliberate choice: billing a return trip turns a creative decision into an accounting one, and the client ends up splitting into two days what should have been one.
Not being based in Paris has a practical advantage. The day is organised around your window, not around a studio schedule or a second shoot across town in the afternoon. I come up the night before when the slot is early, and leave when the pictures are made.
What I do not have in Paris, and I would rather say it: a permanent studio. When a production needs a stage, it is hired for that project, quoted openly and decided with you, rather than billed as a fixed cost carried all year.
The number of dishes matters less than people think. What moves a quote, in order: the duration and scope of the licence, whether a food stylist is on set, the number of output ratios required, and whether the shoot happens during a live service or a running event.
A photograph is not sold, it is licensed for a defined use, duration and territory. The same image on a restaurant website for two years in France, and in out-of-home plus DOOH for five years, is not the same price. On a Paris campaign, that is most of the budget gap.
A food selection. The full gallery also covers hospitality, beverage, cocktails and events.
Five out-of-home and DOOH visuals for the opening of La Douce Heure, the St-Germain rooftop bar at Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, produced by Monks in the summer of 2026. The project gives the brief, the resolution constraint, the loop as it ran on the store’s screens, and the exact scope of the licence granted.
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*
The brief form takes three minutes and asks the questions that matter: where the images will live, for how long, and on which channels. That is what makes a real figure possible instead of a polite range.