The story behind the lens, through my eyes..

 

Through My Eyes

I have always been drawn to the things that cannot quite be explained with words.

A glance.
A movement.
The sound of an engine.
A dog waiting patiently for its owner.
The atmosphere of a street late at night.
The moment before a race begins.

These are the fragments of life that stay with me.

And photography is how I hold on to them.

I am Virginie Petorin, a French photographer with Parisian instincts, a love of London, and an ever-growing curiosity for the world.

My photography is not simply about taking pictures. It is about seeing.

Seeing what is happening in front of me — but also seeing what might otherwise be missed.

Where it began

I was born in La Rochelle, on the Atlantic coast of France, but Paris has always been somewhere in my DNA.

Then came London.

Moving to London changed the way I looked at the world. The streets were different. The light was different. The people were different. Everything seemed to move with its own rhythm.

There was something wonderfully unexpected about it.

The narrow streets, the nightlife, the characters, the old buildings, the creative energy, London somehow reminded me of Paris while feeling completely new.

It woke something up in me.

I began exploring photography through long exposure, discovering how light, movement and time could become part of the image itself.

I became fascinated by the idea that a photograph could contain not only a moment, but a feeling.

That became the beginning of my journey.

Before the camera

Photography was not my first life.

Before becoming a photographer, I travelled the world as an air stewardess for a short time

No long after, I entered the world of bookkeeping and eventually became a partner.

It was a completely different universe.

But perhaps those experiences were never really separate from photography.

They taught me to observe people.

To listen.

To travel.

To adapt.

To notice details.

And, most importantly, to understand that everyone carries a story.

Eventually, I realised that I no longer wanted simply to experience those stories.

I wanted to tell them.

Coco

Then came Coco.

My first dog in London.

And, in a way, my first real muse.

In 2016, Coco opened a door I didn't know was there.

I began experimenting with studio dog photography, discovering the extraordinary personalities that exist behind every pair of eyes, every ear, every expression.

Dogs don't pose in the way humans do.

They reveal themselves.

And that fascinated me.

The studio became a place where personality could take centre stage, sometimes elegant, sometimes ridiculous, sometimes chaotic, but always completely authentic.

My love of dog photography grew into E5 Dog Photography.

And yes...

I admit it.

I am addicted to photographing dogs.

There is something irresistible about them.

Their innocence.
Their attitude.
Their humour.
Their loyalty.
Their complete refusal to care about whether you have the perfect lighting setup.

They make you photograph the truth.

The sound of engines

Then another passion entered the picture.

Cars.

Not just cars, classic cars, racing, noise, movement, people and the culture surrounding them.

In 2019, I photographed my first classic car racing event at the Normandy Beach Race.

I went there to take photographs.

I came home with something much bigger.

I start following a world of people who live with the same intensity that I feel behind a camera.

People who build, restore, race, collect and obsess.

People who travel enormous distances simply because something they love is waiting for them at the other end.

That passion was always contagious.

It took me to Denmark for Rømø, to Japan for the Orai Flat Race, and across the ocean to California for El Mirage.

Different countries.

Different landscapes.

Different machines.

But the same thing everywhere:

passion.

That is what I photograph.

Not simply the car.

Not simply the race.

The feeling.

The dust.

The noise.

The anticipation.

The people.

The hands covered in grease.

The smile after the race.

The moment when everything comes together.

This is what eventually inspired my Dogs & Cars project, two seemingly different worlds connected because they are both part of our stories..

Paris. London. Los Angeles.

My eye has been shaped by the places I have lived and loved.

There is the French influence, the French touch, a natural attraction to atmosphere, elegance, imperfection and detail.

There is Paris, with its history, light and unmistakable character.

There is London, which gave me freedom, energy and the courage to experiment.

And there is Los Angeles, with its vastness, sunlight, cars and extraordinary creative spirit.

Today, I move between London, Paris and Los Angeles, continuing to photograph the people, animals, streets, machines and moments that catch my eye.

Perhaps that is why I find it difficult to put my photography into a single category.

I don't really want to.

Photography, for me, has never been about staying inside a box.

It is about following curiosity.

The photograph

I believe a good photograph should do more than look beautiful.

It should make you feel something.

Maybe it takes you somewhere.

Maybe it reminds you of someone.

Maybe it makes you smile.

Maybe it makes you stop.

Maybe you don't even know why you like it.

But something happens.

That is what I am looking for.

I want my images to have soul.

I want them to feel as though they existed before I arrived,  and that I was simply lucky enough to be there when the moment revealed itself.

Because a photograph is more than a record of what happened.

It is a little piece of time that refuses to disappear.

My footprint

When I look back at my journey, I don't see a straight line.

I see a collection of roads.

La Rochelle.
Paris.
London.
New York.
Los Angeles.
Racetracks.
Studios.
Streets.
Dogs.
Cars.
People.

All of them have left something with me.

And perhaps photography is my way of leaving something behind in return.

My footprint through my eyes.

This is why I photograph.

Because the world is too fascinating to simply pass through it.

Because people have stories.

Because dogs have personalities.

Because old cars have souls.

Because streets have moods.

Because moments disappear.

And because sometimes, one frame can say what a thousand words never could.

I am Virginie.

I photograph what moves me.

And I follow where the passion takes me.

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