French photographer and director Romain Laurent started making portrait-based GIFs as a way to produce work outside his commercial jobs, a spontaneous project that would encourage him to produce consistently for himself rather than clients.

Charli XCX performs at Hype Hotel on March 17, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Lorne Thomson/Redferns)

A model displays a creation during the Sophia Webster presentation at London Fashion Week, in London, Britain February 19, 2018. (Photo by Paul Hackett/Reuters)

A duck swims in a Osterbekkanal during a the rainy autumn afternoon, central Hamburg, Germany 20 November 2017. (Photo by Srdjan Suki/EPA/EFE)

A fisherman carries a sailfish on his head to the fish market in Hamarweyne near the port of Mogadishu on April, 4, 2016. (Photo by Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP Photo)

A child sleeps under a table at the Jorkpan market in Sinkor district in Monrovia, Liberia on May 2, 2016. (Photo by Marco Longari/AFP Photo)

A Bangladeshi girl plays on a swing, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 27, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)

Women dressed in traditional folk costumes participate at the Epiphany day celebration in Bitushe, Macedonia January 19, 2017. (Photo by Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters)