Cerise Doucède is a French photographer widely known for her imaginative and surreal style, which brings the hidden corners of the mind to life. Originally trained in graphic design, she found her passion for photography and graduated from the Spéos Photographic Institute in 2010. Her background in design and her attention to detail shine through in her work, which often feels like a mix of fine art and storytelling.

Doucède gained widespread recognition in 2013 when she won the prestigious Prix HSBC pour la Photographie. Her award-winning series, Égarements (which translates to “Wanderings”), features people surrounded by suspended objects—like cups, books, or paper—seemingly frozen mid-air. These surreal scenes represent the inner thoughts, memories, or emotions of her subjects, giving a visual shape to the chaos and beauty of the mind. What makes her work especially captivating is that these images are not the result of digital manipulation; Doucède painstakingly builds her installations by hand, creating something real and tangible before photographing it.

Her book, Liens Intimes (“Intimate Connections”), published by Actes Sud, gathers four of her photographic series created between 2010 and 2013. It explores themes of human connection and the way people relate to their surroundings, continuing her exploration of perception and reality. Her work often walks the line between the everyday and the extraordinary, transforming familiar objects into something magical and thought-provoking.

What makes Doucède’s photography stand out is its craftsmanship and the dreamlike quality of her scenes. By avoiding digital editing and instead focusing on elaborate, handmade setups, she adds an authentic, tactile depth to her images. Her photos invite viewers into a world where imagination runs wild, and where the inner workings of the mind become a vivid, visual experience. Doucède’s work is both relatable and otherworldly, offering a fresh perspective on the way we see and interpret our own thoughts and emotions.

How she inspired me

This is what inspired me to create the images I created as I strongly agree with the sense of portraying what’s going on inside someone’s head on the outside. I also agree and enjoy the fact that you use physical items and try to set it up really focusing in on the depth of field and other important areas of photography