About

I'm Bilal Akrout, a photographer based in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera. DONKE Photography is my studio: fashion and editorial photography, food photography for restaurants and producers, and street photography as a personal practice.

It started by chance in 2021, when a friend lent me her camera. I gave the camera back. The habit stayed, and I haven't stopped shooting since.

For me, photography is a way of painting with light. In the studio I build every light myself, so a face, a garment or a plate looks exactly the way it should. In the street, I work with the light the city gives me and wait for the moment it falls right.

On set, I care about the details most people never notice: a strand of hair, a reflection on a glass, the way a sauce sits on a plate. I'm a perfectionist and I question my own work constantly. Every shoot is a chance to do better than the last one.

I live and work between Saint-Tropez, Cogolin and the rest of the Côte d'Azur, and I travel anywhere in the world for commissions. For a fashion shoot, an editorial story, restaurant and food photography or product still life, get in touch.