A day in the life of Joseph Molines

In many regards Joseph Molines is what you’d expect from an Australian. He has shaggy hair, loves the beach, and surfing is his preferred form of exercise. Needless to say, we were curious to find out what he was doing in Paris, so far away from two of his passions. He was kind enough to welcome us in the flat/office/occasional studio he shares with his girlfriend in Paris’ bubbling 11th arrondissement, to explain how he ended up in the French capital, how he’s managed to replace surfing with biking, and why he was never destined for a 9 to 5 desk job.

Can you introduce yourself?

My name is Joseph Molines. I’m Australian. I’ve lived in France for the past seven years. I’m a freelance photographer, working in editorial and advertising. I work mostly for French magazines and companies such as Le Bon Marché, Sandro, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Vogue Paris, and Self Service. You know, being freelance is going from being busy one minute to a clear schedule the other. I shoot mostly still life and fashion. In France, I’m Joseph. In English-speaking countries, I’m Joe!

When did you start photography?

I started in high school. My school built a new art department and I took up photography as a way of not doing any work. It ended up being a lot of fun because it was my one friend and me in this huge 80m² dark room to use on our own. I became passionate about it in high school, then video, because I was into skateboarding, so videos were really important to me. I was supposed to study business at University but I didn’t really want to do that. My art teacher was like “why don’t you go to art school and continue doing photography?” I ended up doing four years of art school, majoring in photography but we had to do every discipline: art history theory, ceramics, sculpture, painting… After that, I was assisting, did that for 4 to 5 years, and then moved to Paris.

What led you to move to Paris?

My girlfriend studied fashion design and we both always had the dream of working in Paris, Paris being the fashion centre of the world. We were both like “okay let’s move to Paris”. We were still young so we figured we could just give it a go and see what happened. Six, seven years later, we’re still here! We don’t have plans to go back at the moment but as you get older and older you start to appreciate how good things are back home with the beach, family close to you… Maybe in the next five years we’ll think about it, or relocate somewhere that has more space, the beach. The beach is a passion of mine - and there are no beaches in Paris! There’s a certain kind of energy at the beach, it’s really stimulating. Having said that, Paris is very unique and beautiful. It’s amazing: you have those “quartiers” that you can live in, and then you can walk or bike everywhere… In Australia, you have to drive all the time. It’s a little bit like Los Angeles.

Are you on your bike a lot?

Yeah, I bike around Paris a lot. I was missing an activity like surfing because I used to surf a lot when we lived on the beach in Australia. I needed to find another hobby that could be exercise and fun at the same time. My friends and I bought these gravel bikes so we can spend a few hours biking to a nice village, have lunch and then come back. It’s a nice activity: you’ve done something outdoors, exercised… It’s a nice hobby to stay fit and not get crazy!

At what time do you usually wake up?

I wake up at 8am, then have a shower, leave to get a pain au chocolat, and then have a coffee. I like to have my breakfast outside. I used to spend a ridiculous amount of money at Craft on Rue des Vinaigriers when I was living next to it.It’s a great way to start the day before I come back and do some work… The afternoon is usually some running around collecting equipment, and then I’ll come back and finish up some work.

What products do you use in the morning?

I really enjoy the Horace shampoo. The Horace deodorant and face moisturiser too. What I like about Horace is that all the products seem to fit well for normal guys who might have just started getting into grooming. Nothing too complicated. Sometimes, I also use the sea salt spray. I don’t really take care of my hair but on holiday it just looks amazing. You’ve just been out for a swim, your hair hasn’t been washed so it’s all salted through but it looks great - this product makes it possible. I love it. I cut my hair like once a year, a bit shorter than usual, when I feel like I need a change! I like to do it at home in Australia. It’s a bit like a “new year, new me” thing!

Do you wear perfume at all?

I wear Margiela and Loewe fragrances. I don’t like overly masculine fragrances. I like my perfume light and fresh. I used to wear a lot of Tommy Hilfiger - I don’t know if they still make it.

Walk me through one of your typical workdays.

There are two typical days of work. There are shooting days that usually start at 9am. I’ll wake up, get ready, collect equipment, go to the shoot, set up the equipment, and then shoot. The other day of work is spent at my desk: I collect the files, go through them, process them and send the selection. I also send photos to retouching or retouch them myself, make edits, and prepare the next shoot. When I’m not shooting, I normally work from home. It’s cool to work from home: it can be a bit distracting but it’s nice because there is a great light here. I can shoot things here too, such as small still life projects. I was looking at getting a studio share space but I’m not sure it’s what I need. Sometimes, I do some research at the library. It’s nice to be surrounded by people. In art school, I used to spend a lot of time in the library so I have a natural way of working when I’m there. I go to Beaubourg.

Do you manage to separate your work life from your home life?

It’s a battle sometimes but if I have a clear, planned day, it’s fine. If I know that I need to retouch 20 photos, I’ll just sit down and do it. I’m not sure I would work better in an office. I can get out for lunch if I want. I don’t have a 9 to 6. I have a 10 to midnight, and can manage my time as I want. We moved here one year ago. Before that, we used to live in a furnished apartment. It was great, but it was nice to find an apartment that wasn’t furnished and build more of a home. We spent every weekend buying little things! It’s nice to pick things you actually like! Furnished apartments are weird: the place is yours but it’s not yours at the same time!

Do you travel a lot for work?

I do! I can shoot on location if there’s a budget, and sometimes shoot in New York, Milan, and often in London. London is so close, it is very convenient. There are differences between shoots there and shoots in Paris. In Paris, you start at 9am and then have a nice, long lunch break and finish at 7pm. In London, we usually finish at 6pm because the lunch break is shorter. It makes it easy to make the trip on the same day; you can take the 8pm train back.

These days it seems like spending time posting your work on Instagram is an integral part of being a photographer. Is this something you do?

I don’t do a lot of posting. With social media these days, working life has become more difficult to define. With Instagram, it’s more difficult to log off because there are so many images, all the time, in front of you. If you’re a fashion stylist, a social media person, or a photographer, your work life and your personal life mix up.