Romane Meissonnier, apart from being Artemisia's brilliant secretary, is a 22-year-old photographer, videographer and audio engineering freelancer, originally from Lozère, France.
@romanemeisso on Instagram
“Growing up, I’ve just been pretty keen on taking pictures while I was on holiday and trips. When I was small, my dad got me one of those compact cameras—it was a super cute pink one (laughs)—and I was taking so many pictures with it. But I never really took it seriously until, when I was a bit older, my best friend at the time was doing a lot of photography with his family and he really got me into it. I started taking it more seriously and loving it. Especially during my exchange year in the U.S.. I had the chance to take a lot of pictures and, I don’t even know how, but I somehow made my way into the video club at Inspire (the high school she attended in the U.S.). I think that definitely started my interest in video production, and it definitely rose up when I met my friend Kevin at SAE and we started working on video projects together. I guess that’s how everything was born, more or less (chuckles). Now, I’m finishing up my Bachelor’s degree in Audio Engineering here in Amsterdam. I’m originally from Lozère, which is in the south of France, but my mom is Dutch, and growing up I would visit Amsterdam almost every year. I just love the people here and, to be entirely honest with you, I was fed up with France (chuckles), and I wanted to study in English and be closer to my mom (who also lives in The Netherlands). In September, I hope to be starting a new Bachelor’s in Communications Science, and yeah. I’m just trying to see what life has to offer.”
Can you tell us about your favorite project you've worked on so far?
“Last year I decided to do a documentary about my home county, Lozère, in France. It was really intense. We only had 4 months to do it, and it was just so much work, but I was very driven to complete this project! I got funding from the county, the city, from people around me, and I invested some money myself as well. I asked two of my friends to come film in France with me, so I got to fly them out with me to Lozère. We filmed for eight days straight, and it was awful physically but awesome professionally. Since I was managing the project, I was sleeping very little at night and working all day. And it was during the summer! So the heat wave made everything even worse (laughs). It was a really cool project though, I hold it dear to my heart. After we filmed everything, I got to work with two editors and three music composers for the edit and soundtrack. And when I released it on my socials, the reaction was far beyond what I expected—I think it has like 25,000 views now. It’s insane. I got so many positive messages and comments from the documentary. People would PM me on Facebook to let me know how much they loved it and it was just so empowering to see the response. I just kept thinking, ‘Damn. This is what art should be.’ You know? Making a positive impact, and it’s as simple as just putting a smile on their face. I never thought I would impact so many people...I’m still mesmerized by the response it got. This really inspired me to go further and to create a similar project that will not only show Lozère but also tell its full story.”
What do you do to take care of yourself?
“I have a tendency to always be busy. Like, if I’m not busy, I feel guilty for not doing anything. I’ve gotten better at it in the past two years though—I’m trying to listen to my body more. For example, if I feel tired, even if it’s 2pm, I’ll go and lay down on my bed, take a nap, and chill. I try to adapt my day as much as I can to my body. It’s hard, of course, since I have to be places usually but since the lockdown due to the pandemic, I’ve been able to do it more. I also love going to the movie theatre. Once a week, usually, I’ll go to the movies by myself in the morning. It may seem lame but it’s actually great: often, we’re like 5 people in the room. It’s like having a private cinema! (laughs) Anyways, I’m not usually very productive in the morning so I’d rather just go and watch a movie, chill out, then go home, eat, and work. I also drink a lot of water! This is going to sound so funny maybe, but the best thing I’ve ever done for myself was to start drinking at least two liters of water everyday. It just completely revived me! I used to be so tired and hungry all the time, but from the moment I started hydrating myself more I just became so energetic. I definitely suggest it to everyone.”
For more information about Romane, check out her profile on Instagram or her website!