In light of the announcement that Hélène won’t be touring with Harry and the fact that a bunch of people despise her photos, I, as a photographer, am going to do an analysis...
(And when I say ‘I'm a photographer’ I mean I went to college for this, not that I take pictures with my iPhone haha)
1. This is a pretty basic portrait. He's leaning on a rock staring pensively into the camera. The monochrome coloring works okay if she was going for a melancholy feeling for the photo. It's a nice pic.
2. I for the life of me do not understand why he's cropped all the way in the corner when the photo is supposed to be showcasing him. I mean there's rule-of-thirds and then there's taking photos of just smoke and lights. I'm not wowed.
3. I like the coloring of this one. The orange in the sky looks nice with his turquoise pants. Casual candid photo correctly utilizing rule-of-thirds. Not too bad.
4. I can't even find Harry in this photo. She's photobombing taking a basic mirror pic, meanwhile there's so much going on I can't even find who is supposed to be the main subject.
5. I like this one and think it fits well with the aesthetic of the TPWK music video. It's pretty nice.
6. If she's supposed to be his photographer I don't understand why she's photobombing the pic. Photographers are supposed to stay behind the camera. It's in the job description😂
7. This...this is unfortunate timing. If I took this photo I would not have it up as one of the first on my website, but to each their own.
8. This however, is better timing. Classic whale-rry. Coloring is nice. The pic is solely focussed on him (as it should be). Much better than others.
9. I like the colors of the background with his shirt. But he’s just standing in front of a wall. He’s not even smiling. For the second time: not wowed.
10. This is a better one. He's smiling and dimply. I think it could've been edited better tho. Seems a bit dark for my taste (and also H's sunny smile).
This is going to get long so...
11. Again photobomb. Not really sure what pose this is that Harry’s doing either.
12. Just...why? He’s half covered up, so what’s the point?
13. Again bad timing and unflattering face for Harry. Don’t understand why you would post it under those circumstances.
14. Backside of Harry surrounded by smoke. Like come on. Where’s the emotion? People’s backs do not show expression.
15. Ok, all her other pics did not have me prepared for this one. This is a really cool effect and looks awesome. This is definitely one of her most elite photos.
16. Bless you, Harry! He looks like he’s mid-sneeze. Why would you post this?
17. This is a cute photo. I just wish it wasn’t in black and white as I feel color would better compliment his facial expression.
18. The blurry thing in the left bottom foreground of this image bothers me. It’s distracting me from Harry.
19. You can’t even tell what’s going on in this photo. It honestly makes me feel like I’m having a nightmare.
20. I’m sorry…is he DYING?? What even is this?
21. This is a very cute and creative photo. It also has good colors. Very much a retro feel.
22. This is more of what I expected her stage photography to be like. This is a nice photo and again, good colors.
23. This is one of her best. It’s a cool angle and good use of reflection. (Although, is that her finger over the lens in the top right?)
24. Her group pics generally aren’t bad. They’re just all the same. Five people standing in a row in front of some wall. Not exciting but not necessarily “bad”.
25. I am forever amazed by the pics that get chosen to post. Just..why? It makes it seem like this was the best picture she took of the whole concert and if that’s true, that’s just sad.
26. He’s just a cute precious baby. Good capture on her part.
27. He looks like he just smelled cauliflower cooking. Again, I don’t understand why it was posted.
28. This one is a bit more interesting and a bit more edgy. It’s a completely different style than the other pics though. When you’re documenting something the photos should have cohesion.
29. Is this even Harry Styles? The world shall never know.
30. Did anyone notice how blurry and out of focus this was before they posted it? No? Just me?
Well I think that thirty example photographs more than covers Hélène’s work.
To sum this all up:
Is she a good photographer? This depends on the perspective of the person viewing her work. I personally think she might’ve only been hired because she’s worked with other artists. Ultimately, some will like her work and some will hate it. Personally, it is not to my taste. She has a few gems in there, but if I were Harry, those wouldn’t warrant me keeping her on as my tour photographer.
If Harry had continued using her on his tours, I would have inferred that he was happy with her work and liked it. However, now that she has announced she’s not touring with him anymore maybe this is Harry’s silent agreement with us fans that her work was not up to snuff.
(PS: I am not here to tell y'all how to view her pictures. I am simply giving my honest photographer’s point of view on her work. And if you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you sticking with me for all this!)
