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.

Anglers cast lines through holes into a frozen river during an ice fishing competition at the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival on January 7, 2012 in Hwacheon-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

U.S. soldiers wrestle with South Korean soldiers in a muddy ring during a joint ranger training exercise at a ranger camp near the demilitarised zone (DMZ) June 25 2003 in Paju, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Japanese Yuuka Hasumi, 17, and Ibuki Ito, 17, also from Japan, who want to become K-pop stars, perform during their street performance in Hongdae area of Seoul, South Korea, March 21, 2019. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

North Kenya, Liboi. A young Somali refugee crosses a field filled with marabous storks in July 1992. (Photo by Jean-Claude Coutausse)

A woman is tattooed during the Great British Tattoo Show in Alexandra Palace in north London, Britain May 23, 2015. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)

Girls hold hands as they arrive their New Year parties in Newcastle, England on December 31, 2019. (Photo by Craig Connor/North News and Pictures)

A woman walk by South Korean police during a anti-terror exercise on March 9, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. The drill is part of South Korea's preparation for the upcoming 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, scheduled for March 26 and 27. Some 50 world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, are expected to attend the summit to discuss how to make the world safe without nuclear weapons. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)