Marseille-based photographer Lisa Tichané loves photographing families and kids. For her, capturing the essence of family and childhood is a never-ending quest. So when she got hired to photograph a family lifestyle shoot for Stanhome, a brand specializing in bath and body care for the whole family, she was ready to have some fun.
It started with a call from 1000Feuille, a French advertising agency that was working with Stanhome. They told Lisa the concept, that Stanhome wanted their 2016 catalog to feature a series of lifestyle images of a family in their home. They wanted the photos to feel natural and authentic while still giving a strong vibe of joy and happiness, exactly the type of shoot Lisa loves.
When I heard the theme of the shoot I was absolutely delighted. I knew it would allow me to capture family life as I love to depict it: full of life and playfulness.
Once the initial concept was established, prep for the shoot lasted several months. With the agency in Paris, and Lisa on the other side of France, they did most of their planning via phone and email. With their desire to portray an authentic, care-free family for the catalog, they had planned to photograph a real family, but when casting for that left them uninspired, they moved towards hiring individual members to play the family.
Lisa says in working with individual models as opposed to real family members, she had to alter her way of doing things. She had to adapt the situations so that they would look authentic and comfortable, despite the fact that the people were meeting for the first time at the shoot.
The agency needed images from all different areas of a house, so they searched hard for a suitable home that had the style, space, and number of rooms they needed. The trickiest room by far was the bathroom, as it was tighter than ideal for all the lighting and camera equipment. The lighting team had to be flexible (literally) to position the equipment appropriately, and Lisa squeezed herself in to get the needed shots.
The whole shoot took place over four days, and it was a very active four days. Lisa and the team planned all sorts of activities for the kids, including a flour fight, a water fight in the backyard, jumping on the bed, and silly things at the breakfast table. Lisa says her favorite part of the project was getting to work with the kids and seeing their excitement at each new activity that was revealed to them.
My work is definitely on the happy/carefree side; my images are usually filled with movement, action, funny interactions, and bursting laughter.
The Stanhome catalog has just been launched, and Lisa says it’s gotten some wonderful responses so far. The project was such a long time in the making, she’s excited now to share it with the world!
To view more of Lisa’s work, visit lisatichane.com.