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.

People pose for a photo with certificates after swimming in the ocean for the 121st annual Coney Island Polar Bear Club's New Year's Day plunge at Coney Island beach in the Brooklyn borough of New York, New York, USA, 01 January 2024. (Photo by Sarah Yenesel/EPA)

Mohammed Al-Shinbari, 24, balances objects using what he calls a mix of mind and body, in his family house in Beit Hanun town in the northern Gaza Strip, 30 November 2019. Al-Shinbari says he can put almost any object in balance. (Photo by Mohammed Saber/EPA/EFE)

Russian servicemen look on as a Mi-24 helicopter fly overhead during the Open Water competition for pontoon bridge units, as part of the International Army Games 2018, outside Murom, Russia August 3, 2018. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

A reveler takes part in the 19th Gay Pride Parade at downtown Caracas, Venezuela on June 30, 2019. (Photo by Federico Parra/AFP Photo)

France's Alexia Richard looks up after falling in. loss to Spain in a beach volleyball match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (Photo by Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)

A general view of atmosphere at the annual VOLT Festival in Sopron, 208 kms west of Budapest, Hungary on June 30, 2017. (Photo by Sandor Csudai/Rockstar Photographers)

Wounded Reuters photographer Gleb Garanich, who was injured by riot police, takes pictures as riot police block protesters during a scuffle at a demonstration in support of EU integration at Independence Square in Kiev November 30, 2013. Riot police in the Ukrainian capital Kiev used batons and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of pro-Europe protesters from the city's main Independence Square early on Saturday, witnesses said. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)