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 photo taken on August 29, 2014, shows Mount Tavurvur erupting in eastern Papua New Guinea, spewing rocks and ash into the air, forcing the evacuation of local communities and international flights to be re-routed. Mount Tavurvur, which destroyed the town of Rabaul when it erupted simultaneously with nearby Mount Vulcan in 1994, rumbled to life early in the morning on the tip of the remote island of New Britain. (Photo by Oliver Bluett/AFP Photo)

People stand around a leopard with its head stuck in a vessel in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan state, India, Wednesday, September 30, 2015. The leopard's head got stuck when it attempted to drink water from the pot, according to news reports. Forest officials tranquilized the animal and sawed off the vessel later in the day. (Photo by Kabir Jethi/AP Photo)

A chicken seller carries his chickens on his head in the market in Peshawar, Pakistan, August 20, 2015. (Photo by Khuram Parvez/Reuters)

A canine chase a target during a racing competition on the outskirts of Charsadda on January 14, 2024. (Photo by Abdul Majeed/AFP Photo)

This picture taken with an underwater camera shows Japan' s Yumi Adachi competing in the Mixed Duet technical final during the synchronised swimming competition at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, on July 17, 2017. (Photo by Bernadett Szabo/Reuters)

Director Taro Kambe directs as he watches acting with VR headset during a rehearsal for ROCKET's 3D virtual reality adult film at the company's studio in Tokyo, Japan, July 31, 2017. Japan is the world's second biggest virtual reality market after the United States and the adult entertainment industry and gaming sector are turning to VR as a new way to distribute content. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

A cosplayer uses moving stairs during the first public day of the world's largest computer games fair Gamescom in Cologne, Germany August 23, 2017. (Photo by Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters)