Bonjour! I'm Pauline, a passionate photographer, designer, and educator from France

My whole life and passion is dedicated to everything visual. I’m fascinated by how images communicate beyond the limits of spoken words, creating a unique language of their own. My journey has taken me from a small town in France to Paris and around the world, living as an expat in Australia, Thailand, and Bali. Fueled by an insatiable curiosity and a love for creativity, I transitioned from being a designer to a self-taught photographer, eventually opening my portrait studio. Along the way, I spent countless nights (and years!) learning to express the world inside my mind, and I know how challenging that can be. That’s why I’m so passionate about teaching and helping other creatives find their own voice—empowering others has become a core part of my work.

I'd love to know how I can support you! Feel free to connect or check out my portfolio on Behance!

Creative self portrait from 2017. I remember feeling like I had finally unlocked some Photoshop wizardry !

MEDIA BIO

Pauline Goyard is a French photographer and creative director whose dark surrealist fine art is both eye-catching and gut-wrenching. While she began her career as a graphic designer, it never gave the sense of fulfillment photography offered, so Pauline soon opened her own portrait studio and began working full-time. She now divides her time experimenting new digital medias to make fine art projects, and teaching other creatives around the world to create breathtaking visuals.

Get to Know Me: A Quick Timeline

1988 Born! YAY! (Yes, that makes me 27 years old—you counted right!)

I grew up in Troyes, a small town in the East of France. Where were all the fun, creative people? (Not there!) I felt out of place and dreamed of a different life.

1997 I saved a year’s worth of pocket money to buy my first camera (it was film, because, you know, digital didn’t exist yet!). I still have it, along with the pictures I took!

2006 I got into art and design school—finally, a place where I felt I belonged!

2011 I graduated as a graphic and motion designer from Gobelins School in Paris.

2014 I quit my art director job and gave myself one year to become a professional photographer. I learned everything online, MacGyvering my way through with no money, no network, and no gear, doing self-portraits!

2016 I finally opened my portrait studio in Paris! YAYAYAYAY! I work for prestigious international clients and began gaining recognition for my fine art work.

2019 Oh noooo! I burned myself out and got sick. I couldn’t go on like this, so I decided to sell everything I owned and move to Bali.

Later that same year, I made peace with the idea that I don’t have to choose between being a designer, photographer, and educator (while living in a bikini in Bali!).

2020 Adobe asked me for an interview about my work—I ended up hosting the show! I LOVED IT SO MUCH and I did 300 of them over 3 years, interviewing 150+ creatives. How crazy is that?

But then, Covid struck, and my mental health took a hit. I faced a massive creative block that lasted a couple of years (alright, more like 4 years).

2022 Photographers started asking me for mentoring, and I instantly fell in love with it. ❤️

2024 After almost 5 years abroad between Bali, Thailand & Australia, I moved back to France to find stability again (and eat plenty of cheese, of course). I got a dog, a boyfriend, a creative studio, and I’m READY FOR THE NEXT ADVENTURE!

References.

INTERVIEWS

CREATONIC Build your professional network to stop relying so much on social medias 2024

PODCAST Photographe 2.0 Get more creative thanks to AI 2023

Rangefinder article How Fine-Art Photographer Pauline Goyard Gives Life to Her Creativity 2023

PODCAST The Portrait System Bring Powerful Visions To Life With Fine Art Photographer Pauline Goyard 2023

PODCAST Dans l'oeil du photographe 2021

"Art, creativity and hypnotic state" with Kevin Finel 2020

Finding Beauty in the Darkness: the Social Hour Interview with Pauline Goyard 2020

Adobe LIVE en direct du canap’

Portrait ou Paysage - Live interview 2020

PORTRAIT OU PAYSAGE - Creativity and business 2020

FSTOPPERS - Making beauty from darkness 2020

PHLEARN - How fine art photographer Pauline Goyard creates this captivating selfportrait 2019

ADOBE masterclass 2019

Photo effect interview 2019

Be inspired - Photography podcast by Seamless 2017

CREATIVELIVE - Featured in the brandbook 2017

Be inspired - Photography interview by Seamless 2017

SPEAKING & LIVE

DIGITAL CAMPUS - Maker week 2024 - Augmented Reality Workshop

ADOBE LIVE - Back from ADOBE MAX London 2024

ADOBE LIVE - 12 ways to use the Photoshop generative AI 2023

SLASH - The futur of Creativity 2023

ADOBE LIVE - The crazy AI updates in Photoshop 2023

ADOBE LIVE - From Imagination to creation 2022

DIGITAL CAMPUS - Maker week 2022 - Augmented Reality Workshop

ADOBE LIVE - Get your creativity back 2021

ADOBE LIVE - All about Photoshop 2021

ADOBE LIVE - Photo retouching with Pauline 2020

The Fine art Workshop - Sue Bryce education 2017

AWARDS

For many reasons, I don’t want to participate in any awards but here are still a few cool shiny stuff I collected the year I decided to enter them to see what would happen!

  • Black & White Nude Photo of the Year 2018 Monovisions Awards 2018

  • Honorable mention Margaret Cameron Awards 2018

  • Gold Award for « lost » - self portrait category TRIERENBERG SUPER CIRCUIT 2017

  • Honorable Mention winner Tokyo International Foto Awards 2017

  • 4 silver awards and 14 bronze awards - The Portrait Masters 2017 & 2018

“the beautiful thing about humanity is to find a way to make something beautiful and meaningful out of something that was painful. I think profound transformation is never about removing the pain or the imperfection, it’s about keeping them and transcending them into something that’s worth keeping and worth living through.”

Read the full interview written by Nicole York on FSTOPPERS website.