These are the first portraits. Antoan was working in post-production at the time, retouching skin, erasing wrinkles, smoothing what the industry considered imperfect. What he wanted instead was the opposite: no studio, no photographer's light, no artifice. Just a person, face to face, exactly as they are. A trace.

Photography, for him, has always been about leaving something behind for future generations — images that resist the filtered, the siliconed, the retouched. A record of what people actually looked like. Who they actually were.

The people he photographed can exude pride, hide, appear shy, or convey a sense of guilt. Their gestures, expressions, posture, and the surrounding context evoke memories of his own life: the war, nature, emotions, and the blurred line between reality and facade. Who are they, really?

The question has never stopped.