In Montreal, journalist Louis-Philippe Messier travels mostly on the run, his desk in his backpack, on the lookout for fascinating subjects and people. He speaks to everyone and is interested in all walks of life in this urban chronicle.
It’s spring, the season of love! For Montreal photographer Marine Gibert, who offers outdoor sessions to look good on dating apps, it’s also a very busy time at work.
“I have feedback from my clients who tell me that it works, they have many more connections with beautiful professional photos of themselves,” says the 32-year-old former French military paratrooper. She particularly likes the settings of Old Montreal and Mile End for her clients who want to look good for GoSeeYou, Tinder, Bumble, Grindr, Feeld or Hinge.
She estimates that she has already photographed more than 500 clients in the metropolis for Tinder over the last three years… and now, the rate is six or seven clients per week. Next weekend, she already has six sessions planned.
She charges $170 for five photos.
Mohit Dhiman walks while Marine Gibert takes a photo of him on rue Le Royer, in Old Montreal.
Louis-Philippe Messier
Merciless judgment
I remember a friend showing me her Tinder and swiping left to blast away almost every guy’s profile a split second after they appeared. It was a real mass execution.
If she liked one profile out of a hundred during her evening, that was a good catch.
This is the kind of merciless and expeditious judge that the photos of Mme Gibert aims to coax.
“I would rather pay Marine for beautiful photos that make me popular on Tinder, Bumble and Grindr than pay subscription fees to applications so that my profile is more highlighted,” reasons Mohit Dhiman, 33, a computer scientist analyzing financial applications.
Mr. Dhiman was kind enough to allow me to attend his photo session in Old Montreal, on the landing of the Lucien-Saulnier building, in front of the bronze work of Charles Daudelin located at the foot of the courthouse and the very green and very photogenic rue Le Royer.
“I am bisexual. Depending on whether I’m targeting women or men, I don’t necessarily choose the same images. For women, I take the ones where I look very professional and well-groomed.”
Mme Gibert introduced Mr. Dhiman to me as a “regular customer”… because he was on his third session. New season, new photos!
“It worked really well the first two times, so I’m doing it again,” Mr. Dhiman says with a laugh.
What a man! By paying for a photo shoot, Mohit Dhiman makes sure not to go unnoticed in the frantic flow of dating apps, where judgment is as ruthless as it is expeditious.
Marine Gibert
Mohit Dhiman poses on the landing of the Lucien-Saulnier building.
Louis-Philippe Messier
Male clientele
With the scourge of self-portraits in the mirror (with or without a sweater) plaguing dating apps, I have no trouble believing that beautiful photos allow you to stand out from the virtual sea of humans.
“Some of my clients tell me they follow the advice of seduction coaches, but that’s a minority. For them, my professional photos are part of a program.”
Almost all of his clients are men.
“It’s definitely more competitive on the men’s side in dating apps to attract the attention of women. If I have few clients, it’s because they are approached often enough that they don’t feel the need for better photos.”
Does she fear that artificial intelligence will replace it by offering these kinds of images for free?
“Maybe it will happen one day. At the moment, these images look terribly fake. And for my part, I refuse to retouch, beautify, slim down or improve the appearance of my clients: I do not want to participate in false representation.
For variety, one of the photos shows the subject seated.
Marine Gibert