Albertine Hadj

Photographer and Art Director     Paris, France

Albertine Hadj is a self-taught French photographer and director with a Master’s degree in Philosophy of Sciences from Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. She was born in France and her family comes from Algeria. Challenged in her childhood by different conceptions of femininity, she works around this theme, practicing self-portraits. Poetry is her main obsession in her films and photographs, while playing with symbols to recreate a very childish, yet powerful, perception of reality.

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I grew up in the French countryside, then moved to Paris for my studies. I was first introduced to photography at the age of 14 when my grandfather offered me an analog camera, and I never got rid of it. My grandmother was paying for the development process. I still work with this camera sometimes. I really cherish it. I was introduced to videos at the same age. I was playing with my dad’s camera, filming my friends all the time and editing these videos in the most nostalgic way — as if I already knew how nostalgic I would get watching them later. Later, I started modeling for magazines and brands.

My attraction to fashion and beauty grew as much as my initial inspirations like poetry, philosophy, and painting. It led me to explore self-portraits as a way of empowerment and to work with models who inspire me to create stories. My main obsessions revolve around femininity, poetry, nostalgia, and philosophy, while my style is dreamlike and nostalgic. My inspiration comes from movies, introspection, and philosophical research. 

My vision is composed of themes such as childhood, femininity, feminism, desire, and philosophy. As an ex-philosophy student, philosophy remains the ultimate component of my work, offering an authentic reflection hidden behind every image & film. My expertise revolves around authenticity in images (in cinema and photography). Working with analog tools, or mimicking them through digital, allows me to create unique visuals, both simple and elaborate.

I have deep introspections, which conclude in a deeper reflection that I want to share through symbols and beauty. This process allows me to have a clear idea of the story I want to tell. It helps me both to be coherent in my work but mostly to be aware of what I show. The representation of femininity is the result of deep reflections with which I want to empower other women. I am looking to create a childish wonder close to reality. Through this simple and nostalgic perception, I like to communicate philosophical and poetic ideas. Images have the power to be universal, and I can communicate complicated and deep thoughts through their purest and simplest form.

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