My friend Oriane, baby and newborn photographer in Toulon

I would like to introduce you to my friend Oriane. She is a baby and newborn photographer in Toulon, and whenever I look at her photos, I can see straight away what she puts into her work: patience, gentleness, and a great deal of light. She welcomes newborns to her studio during the first fifteen days of their lives, then she meets families, mums-to-be and couples outdoors, as the sun goes down. As for me, I engrave memories into terracotta with MyTomette, our workshop in Hyères. I wanted to show you her pictures, and what one of them becomes once it is engraved.

Let’s start with this one. A newborn sleeps in a basket, one cheek resting on folded arms, wearing a flowered headband, on pure white knitted wool. This is the photo we put through our configurator, a little further down.

Oriane, baby and newborn photographer in Toulon

On her “about” page, she begins with “Hey!”, and then: “I’m Oriane, a photographer and a happy mum.” Her whole tone is right there, simple and joyful. She lives, she writes, “in the land of cicadas, of lavender fields and olive trees, of sunset drinks on the beach”, and as a keen traveller she happily sets off “wherever the wind takes me”. She has been photographing births in Toulon for more than ten years: back in 2018, she already had more than five years’ experience.

There is a photo of her, published on her website, ByOriane, that I am very fond of. Oriane is kneeling on the studio floorboards, leaning over a sleeping newborn, her fingers resting ever so gently against the baby’s face, and she is smiling. She is down at baby’s level, in no hurry at all. It is exactly what she promises parents: “I look after your little ones with the utmost gentleness and care.”

That gentleness is also something you learn. Oriane describes herself as “Trained by the finest photographers in newborn posing”, and on her pricing page she explains that she has taken several courses “with renowned photographers as well as midwives and osteopaths”, “so as to give baby all the comfort and safety they need”. I find that very reassuring: with her, a pretty pose never comes before the baby’s wellbeing.

The newborn session at the studio, at baby’s pace

Her baby photo studio in Toulon is in the Les Routes area, a few minutes from the motorway exit, about 25 minutes from Hyères. It is set aside for newborns and babies aged 2 to 12 months. It is kept warm on purpose, “because babies need to find that warmth again in order to feel completely soothed and reassured”. She talks of a “warm and cosy space”, and you can see it in her photos: cream tones, thick wool, rattan baskets, nothing garish.

The session takes place within the first fifteen days of life, in the morning only, “because that is when baby is at their calmest”. It lasts about three hours, with breaks for a breastfeed or a bottle, a cuddle, a nappy change. Oriane sums it up in a sentence that makes me smile: “Clearly, it’s baby who will set the pace of this session, and baby alone!” To be sure of a slot, you book before the birth by giving your due date; the session date is then arranged around the baby’s arrival.

At the start of the session, you choose the colours, fabrics, baskets, headbands and handmade hats together. Then she photographs what changes fastest: “Your little one’s details will take pride of place, their expressions, their postures, and this session often clearly reflects baby’s first personality traits!” Look at these twin girls, who came to the studio in their first days: the two heads touching, the little flowered headbands, a hand creeping up towards a face. It is as if each of them already has her own way of sleeping.

Big brothers and big sisters get their moment too: “Time is of course set aside at the start or end of the session for a few photos with mum, dad and the big sisters or big brothers!” In the photo below, the big sister has closed her eyes, her face against the baby’s head and her hand resting on the baby’s cheek. I don’t know how Oriane captures moments like these with children that age, but she does. The whole session is described on her baby and newborn photographer in Toulon page.

Babies who grow, and families who come back

Oriane does not leave babies behind after their first fifteen days. At 3 months, she says, it is “the ideal age to capture their first smiles”, and she reassures parents who were not able to have newborn photos taken: “It’s not too late, don’t worry!” Between 8 and 12 months, once baby can sit up well, she photographs “The first rolls, the first fits of giggles and the brand-new first teeth…”, and she adds: “Those moments that fly by so fast and yet matter so much.”

She also knows how to find the right words for parents. On her blog, a piece about birth begins like this: “9 months you’d been waiting for them…”, and goes on: “Imagining their little face, wondering whether they would have hair, dad’s nose and mum’s eyes…” Many parents will recognise themselves in it.

And then there is what touches me most: families come back. On her blog, Oriane tells of a baby who came to the studio just as their big sister had a few years earlier, and of a couple whose wedding she photographed among the lavender, then the pregnancy, at their home, then a family session at sunset. She writes about them: “It was a great pleasure to be able to follow them once again”. When you entrust someone with your wedding, and then with your children, it is because you felt at ease with her.

Pregnancy and family, in the evening light

Outdoors, Oriane changes the setting but not the way she is. Her maternity photo shoot takes place at 7 to 8 months, on a walk around Toulon, at the end of the day. It is meant for those who love “simplicity, the warm colours of the setting sun, the candid shot, the laughs and the walks”. And she reassures you straight away: “no need to know how to pose!”

She goes a long way for a dream. On her blog, she tells of a mum-to-be who wanted to be photographed in the water: the weather forced several postponements, and the session finally took place just a few days before the birth, without much sun, in water that was anything but warm. She simply concludes: “Astrid posed beautifully!”

For the family photo session, you meet outdoors, “about an hour before sunset”. What she looks for are “moments just as they are: spontaneous, funny and real!” In this family silhouette, you cannot see a single face, and yet everything is there: the little one lifted up at arm’s length, the older child holding a hand and looking up at the little one, the orange sky behind.

One day, in the village of Le Castellet, a session turned into a marriage proposal, right in front of her, without her being told beforehand. She described it like this: “A wonderful moment, during which I struggled to hold back my tears and, above all, to keep shooting!!” I think that sentence is Oriane all over: moved along with the people in front of her, and her camera always ready.

Weddings, from Hyères to the Luberon

For weddings, Oriane talks of photojournalism. She will be, she says, “by your side and among your guests, your family, to tell your story in a modern, lively and luminous style”. She describes herself as “Kind and discreet by nature”, and I love her promise: “With me, no frozen smiles, no tight lips. You will simply make the most of the moment by being yourselves.” This bride, arms raised among the golden grasses, shows exactly what that looks like.

She also takes photos very close to home. In 2025, she wrote about a wedding at Castel Bay, in Hyères, the town where our workshop is: “Ornella and Kevyn said ‘yes’ facing the sea, in a chic and relaxed atmosphere.” Her blog features many others, at Château du Galoupet, Domaine de Patras, Rayol-Canadel and Carqueiranne, and her wedding photographer in the Var page explains how she works.

A photojournalist by training, she also produces corporate photography across Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. And for a session or a wedding right next to the workshop, she is also a photographer in Hyères.

The basket photo, engraved on a tomette

At the workshop, we uploaded the newborn photo to the configurator for our engraved photo tile, on a tomette (the traditional hexagonal terracotta tile of Provence) or a square tile, just as any customer would. The tool redraws the photo, then shows the engraving in real time, as it will appear in the terracotta. We chose the hexagonal tomette, the “No text” (Sans texte) layout, to let the drawing stand on its own, and the default framing, “Fit to tile” (Ajustement précis). A first name and a date of birth can go at the top or bottom, if you want to give it as a gift.

The drawing keeps everything that made the photo: the flowered headband, the little hands tucked under the cheek, the closed eyes, right down to the rings of the basket and its two handles. The knitted wool becomes a simple drape, and the white studio backdrop gives way to bare terracotta. The scene can be read at a glance, which is often the sign of a picture well suited to engraving. Oriane’s photos, with their light backgrounds and clearly drawn subjects, are particularly well suited to it.

The engraved photo comes as a 12 × 10 cm hexagonal tomette, from €24.90, or a 13 × 13 cm square tile, from €29.90. It is laser-engraved in our workshop in Hyères, on terracotta from Salernes, and dispatched within 72 working hours. The engraving is in the clay itself: it will not wear off.

What her photos and our tomettes have in common

When I look at Oriane’s photos, I recognise what we strive for in the workshop. As she presses the shutter, she chooses what in a scene deserves to last; we then make sure the engraving keeps the essence of it. Her craft, like ours, is about holding on to a moment and entrusting it to the parents, the grandparents, and one day to the child, all grown up.

Of course, a tomette does not replace an album. A photo session gives a whole series of pictures, which you leaf through now and then. The tomette keeps just one, and it stays close to us all day long: in the living room, on a bedroom shelf, or hung on the wall. It is pretty, it decorates, and in passing it brings back one of the most beautiful days of our lives.

It is also an object that lasts, and one that is local from start to finish: a photo taken in a Toulon studio, a tomette from Salernes, a village in the Var where they have been made since the 19^th century, and an engraving made in Hyères. Given to new parents or newlyweds, it is a personalised gift that stays in view.

A personalised new baby or wedding gift

For the arrival of a baby, the engraved photo is a personalised photo gift that sits among our personalised new baby gifts. If you do not have a photo yet, here are two designs we are very fond of: the “Attrape les étoiles” new baby gift, with its moon asleep on a cloud and the words “Attrape les étoiles et crois en toi” (catch the stars and believe in yourself), which also makes a lovely godparent or christening gift, and the “Petite merveille” personalised baby gift, with its rainbow and little heart and the words “Petite merveille qui rend la vie belle” (little wonder who makes life beautiful). Both are engraved with a first name and, if you wish, a date.

A birth, a wedding: Oriane photographs both, and we love engraving both. A photo from your wedding, one taken by your photographer for instance, can be engraved in the same way as the basket photo. It then joins our personalised wedding gifts, alongside the “se sont dit oui” wedding keepsake, with the couple’s names, the date and the venue, and the “Brindilles” personalised wedding gift from Provence, a 13 cm square tile with sprigs in the corners, the couple’s first names and the date.

Getting in touch with Oriane

If you are expecting a baby, planning a wedding, or simply fancy some beautiful family photos in the evening light, write to Oriane, or email her directly at info@byoriane.com. For a newborn session, remember to give her your due date. Her latest sessions are on Instagram: @byorianephotographe.

Thank you, Oriane, for all these pictures, and for the gentleness you put into every one of them. The other people we love working with are on our partners page.