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.

A massive sand storm cloud is close to enveloping a military camp as it rolls over Al Asad, Iraq, April 27, 2005. (Photo by Cpl. Alicia M. Garcia, U.S. Marine Corps/Reuters/U.S. Department of Defense)

A sledding dog is covered in ice after spending the night in the open air with his musher at the polar base of Val-Cenis, as they ready for the next stage of the 12th edition of “La Grande Odyssee” sledding race across the Alps on January 17, 2016 in Val Cenis Lanslevillard. (Photo by Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP Photo)

A partial solar eclipse is seen as a labourer works at a construction site in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 9, 2016. (Photo by Samrang Pring/Reuters)

Leon Feingold, right, drops his jeans as his girlfriend Patrizia Calvio looks in her purse on the uptown E Train during the 18th annual No Pants Subway Ride, January 13, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Kathy Willens/AP Photo)

In this aerial view Haitian migrants queue to receive food at a shelter in Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila State, Mexico, on September 23, 2021. At least 50 police vehicles carrying more than a hundred agents are blocking the border crossing at the river that separates the Mexican city of Ciudad Acuña from the United States, AFP reported. (Photo by Pedro Pardo/AFP Photo)

Singers Britney Spears and Madonna share a kiss onstage during the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on August 28, 2003 in New York City. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

Visitors visit the Nanjing Museum in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, September 26, 2024. By the end of August 2024, the 6,833 museums officially registered in China have received 940 million visitors. (Photo by CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)