Soazig de la Moissonière, the woman who stripped Macron

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Eight days after the victory of Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the presidential elections, the liberal was forced to "sweat his shirt" in Marseille to win the green vote.

The scene was immortalized in a snapshot that took seconds to become a viral meme with

Behind the lens, the imperturbable figure of Soazig de la Moissonière.

An almost total unknown 40-year-old who has become Macron's shadow since 2016 and, above all, the woman who stripped the president.

Few are the details that are known about this woman with an angular face, who scrutinizes Macron behind glasses more typical of a scientist.

Wrapped in anorak, black sweatshirts and denim shirts, de la Moissonière's mission is to be discreet and

To do this, she has the full confidence of the president, whom she began to follow when the then Minister of Economy of the socialist François Hollande was preparing from the shadows a coup against his boss to become president of the Republic.

always in the shade

Your secret?

The discretion.

That has saved her from the purge by which most of Macron's Communication advisers have been falling, such as Sibeth Ndiaye or Sylvain Fort.

"The longevity of Soazig's career contrasts with the brevity of the president's advisers, whether in power games or political crises. It is because

says historian Alexis Levrier, author of a punctilious analysis about Macron's relationship with the press.

The irrefutable proof of the discreet ambition of De la Moissonière, who continues to refuse to speak to the president on a first-name basis, arrives by email.

It is a refusal of an interview request after the success of pictures like the one of Macron with an open shirt and hair on his chest, but also the series of

after long hours of diplomatic discussions late in the morning the night in the middle of the Ukraine crisis...

The photo that amazed the world: Macron portrayed as a man with hair on his chest. Soazig de la Moissonière

The name of Soazig de la Moissonière, born in the wealthy suburbs of Paris in 1981, has jumped to the fore of the main world media and it is legitimate to seek the opinion of the author of these theatrical clichés, who accumulates

But the denial is not long in coming: "Thank you for your interest, she is adorable. However, I am not in the habit of talking about myself or my work. I am very sorry."

The woman in the photographs that speak the most about Macron does not want to be heard.

The beginnings of a rising career

His first steps in photography date back to 2006, after training in the theater that, it seems, did not bear fruit.

Interested in photographing strangers on the street, just six years later she became a campaign photographer for the centrist François Bayoru, who in 2016 would become one of Macron's first allies.

In 2016, De la Moissonière began to combine her work at the IP3 photojournalist agency with a first commission from the future president: take

which according to the French newspaper 'Libération' was worth 22,000 euros.

The photographer was forced to leave her position at the agency after

Media such as 'Le Monde' or 'Libération' refused to use the photos that she provided to the agency while she was working as a campaign photographer, two ethically incompatible tasks.

Then came the time to devote himself entirely to Macron.

Prince Macron's portraitist

No one knows for sure what guidelines the photographer follows, but analysts agree:

and his official portraitist, Pete Souza, who showed Obama more personal, more tender, smiling, determined and, in short, 'cool'.

"Obama wanted to communicate directly with the public, orchestrate his communication. Macron wanted to do the same except that he has

says Lévrier, surprised by a paradox.

While social networks received photos and videos of a relaxed and coiled Macron - the one portrayed by Soazig - the press was forced to follow him at a great distance, sometimes without having direct access to him.

Emmanuel Macron in the Elysee wearing an Air Force sweatshirt, an image that was taken shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Soazig de la Moissonière

A French reporter who has often worked side by side with De la Moissonière points out that despite her job as 'favorite', the professional never misses an opportunity to help her colleagues.

"She's like us, she has to work with the direct, without time to make montages. But of course, she

that we never have. Of course, I have ever seen her trying to share her privileged access with us, for example trying to negotiate with the security so that we could get a little closer", says the photographer.

Macron, turned into a meme

Interestingly, both the photographer and the historian and analyst agree that Macron's communication attempts to appear so natural are going against him, since for the moment it has only served to turn the head of state into a meme.

"They have been inspired by the dynamics of Obama but

says the photographer, who prefers to remain anonymous.

In the pages of the magazine 'Gala', Sibeth Ndiaye, who was the government spokesperson and Macron's right-hand man since his election campaign in 2016, assures that the team hired her because "they were looking for

and Soazig " has the ability to relive the event from the inside."

Macron "has gotten used to her presence and she has had the intelligence to make herself invisible," says Ndiaye.

A logic that Levrier does not fully share.

For him, the choice of Soazig is a

that fell squarely on Emmanuel Macron.

"Macron

and Soazig has the role of enhancing the image of the prince. He is like Louis XIV, who had a pockmarked face, was bald and had countless physical defects but was always portrayed favorably ", comments the specialist.

All styles of Macron

But what is reality and what is montage in the clichés that De la Moissonière forbids from publishing in the press and only distributes through social networks?

Difficult to see the limits of who decides what.

Macron followed the example of the most cool Obama, then he signed up to the style of the Ukrainian Zelensky to become a street hero and later he was inspired by the stars of the French Nouvelle Vague to go out with his shirt open to the navel and

the less and less young French president.

In the middle of the campaign, Macron himself commented on the photograph on the French program 'C' à vous':

he said, downplaying the image.

As he explained, not all the photos they take of him pass through her filter and she must have seen it a bit quickly... In the interview, Macron was sincere: Soazig has her confidence and much more freedom than she could look.

"This happened because the president trusts her," says Levrier.

This month, Macron will officially begin his second term.

Will Soazig de la Moissonière continue to be the official portraitist of Macron I?

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