Through
my eyes.
A little about me.
A world to discover.
NO. 01MEET
OBSERVE
REMEMBER
Moments pass. Images stay.
01 / BEHIND THE LENS
GWENAËLLE’S JOURNALMine begins with
my mum’s camera.
A little about me.
A world to discover.
I’m
Gwenaëlle.
I love setting off on adventures, living life to the full and taking on new challenges.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had a camera in my hands. I can still picture myself borrowing my mum’s or my brother’s to capture whatever caught my eye.
I think my passion for photography began, above all, with my mum.
I soon became the family’s “chief reporter” at get-togethers. I loved being behind the camera: watching, preserving a moment and telling the story I saw through my own eyes, rather than being in front of the lens myself.
Watching her photograph the world through her lens made me want to discover it through my own.
After completing a master’s degree in Communications, I now work as a communications officer for a French company. It’s a broad role: I work on a range of communications projects, social media and internal communications, and collaborate with different departments across the company.
What I particularly enjoy about my job is the creative side: developing new concepts, coming up with fresh ideas and constantly looking for different, innovative ways to communicate. In a way, there’s a connection with photography: in both, I love to observe, imagine and find a new way to tell a story.
Beyond photography, as you’ve probably gathered, I’m passionate about travel, but also dancing, skiing and, more broadly, all the adventures life has to offer. I love discovering, learning, being active and, above all, making new memories.

In 2024, just after finishing my studies and before starting my career, I went to Australia with a friend on a working holiday visa.
It was an incredible experience, both for the people I met and the things I experienced. Of course, it wasn’t all plain sailing. A lot can happen when you’re backpacking for that long! But I think it’s those surprises, little mishaps and unexpected moments that make a journey richer and give you the best stories to tell when you get home.
One experience that really stayed with me was our two-week road trip from Melbourne to Cairns. We travelled along part of the Australian coast, stopping in places with unbelievable scenery. Kilometres of open road, unplanned stops, sunsets, breathtaking landscapes… and, of course, plenty of photos.
I came home from Australia with a full memory card, but more than anything, with so many memories and stories to tell. And that’s probably what I love most about photography: looking at an image again and being taken straight back to the moment I captured it.
I’m not sure I could really say I have a favourite photograph.
I love each of my photos for a different reason, because they’re all tied to something I’ve experienced: a trip, a family moment, an encounter, a landscape I discovered for the first time…

When I look at a photograph, I don’t just see what’s in it. I also remember everything around it: who I was with, what we’d just experienced and how I felt at that moment. And that’s probably what makes these images so valuable to me.
A photograph can be beautiful, but what I love even more is everything it can bring back to the surface a few years later.
I have a few stories about things going wrong… especially with my drones!
Unfortunately, I’ve lost drones while trying to capture beautiful images. Let’s just say some photos cost me a little more than I’d expected…

Looking back, though, it taught me one thing above all: sometimes, you shouldn’t chase THE perfect photograph at any cost. You also need to know when to put the camera down, look around and simply enjoy the moment with your own eyes.
And in the end, some of the most beautiful images are the ones we never took.
For this one, I think the people close to me might answer better than I could!
People have often told me I have “a good eye for photography”. For a long time, I wondered what that really meant, because I was simply photographing things I liked… like everyone else, surely?

Over time, I realised it might not just be what I photograph, but how I photograph it: an angle, a certain light, a perspective, a detail I notice that someone else might walk straight past.
I don’t know if I have a style you’d recognise straight away, but I like the idea that my way of seeing comes through in my photographs. Perhaps that’s my own little touch.
Mind you… the people close to me would probably also tell you that I pack far too much. Between the lenses, the zooms and now the drone, travelling light is clearly not my strong point!
There are still so many countries on my list that I wouldn’t know which to choose! I feel as though I’m only at the beginning of everything I’d love to discover.
But ultimately, my next dream escape isn’t necessarily just about the destination. It also depends a great deal on who I could share it with.
Of course, I love photographing an incredible landscape, a city I’m discovering or a sunset. But behind every image, there’s a memory too: the person beside me, a conversation, a fit of laughter, an adventure we shared…
That’s another reason I love photography so much. When I look at a photograph years later, I don’t just see a landscape. I remember the place, the moment, but above all, the people I shared it with.
So for my next destination, I might choose a wonderful adventure first… and then let my camera tell the rest of the story.


Thank you for sharing
a little of the journey with me.
Open the journal and get to know me.
02 / THE COLLECTIONS
FIVE WAYS TO ESCAPEA shoreline, a certain light, a turn in the road.
Follow what draws you in.
03 / LIVING MOMENTS
THE MEMORY CONTINUESIf you’d stayed
a few seconds longer…
An image.
And everything alive around it.
Some moments stay with us.
Others make us want to set off again.
04 / CORRESPONDENCE
THE PEOPLE WE MEET ARE PART OF THE JOURNEY TOO.About an image, an idea
or simply to say hello.

Gwenaëlle Barreau
AN IMAGE, ITS CREATOR
These photographs belong to Gwenaëlle Barreau. Except where permitted by law, any reuse or republication, including on social media, requires her prior permission.