The “naive and positive” world of Paul Rousteau is presented in vivid colour

“I like the idea of being naive and positive in my work,” says Paris-based photographer Paul Rousteau. “My career began at art school, then I worked in fashion photography, then magazines. These photos are a mix of the personal and the professional.” Over the past six months Paul has worked for M Le Monde, i-D, Dazed & Confused, Asos, Libération​​, L​es Inrocks​, C​anon, Nike, Olympus, Diptyque.

Since we last caught up with him, just some of the things Paul’s lens has captured include the pregnant form of his partner as part of a personal project and the face of one of the egotistical footballers currently playing in the world for French Magazine Obsession. “I had 20 minutes to shoot Zlatan Ibrahimovic and he was running very late,” he says. “I ended up with just three minutes, so shot him while the makeup artist was working.” The results catch the highly preened (and highly paid) megastar off guard, revealing a more playful side to the controversial and divisive character. While shooting for Asos, Paul was offered freedom by a very loose brief. “I wanted to do something with a dreamlike quality,” he recalls. “At first I didn’t like the bowl cuts of the models, but then I found the connection between them: together their heads look like the letter M.”

The vivid colour palette and the playful poses and expressions that he finds in each of his subjects shows are the embodiment of Paul’s optimistic demeanour. “This set of pictures have really bold colours because we have had a really good summer,” he says. “Now it is winter, I will change them.”