Ilona Castel

What do you do on the TJV ?  

I am a volunteer with the Transat Jacques Vabre organization as a photographer. I work with press photographers and the organization accredited for the event. I mainly shoot in the field, and do some retouching work in the studio. I've had the opportunity to do a lot of different things since the opening of the village: I've taken pictures from a baot, during interviews with skippers, during conferences...

This allow me to work on different techniques, and I also have the freedom to take my own initiatives. It's very interesting to see up close what goes on in an event of this size. 

What course of study are you following ? Why did you choose this school ? 

I am in my first year of a BTS in Photography at the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul high school. Photography has been my passion for years, I always wanted to make it my profession. And coming to Le Havre was an opportunity to get closer to part of my family, beacause I grew up in Reunion Island. 

What do you think of Le Havre ?

Well, at the beginning, the cold is a bit weird, but you get used to it! I like Le Havre because it's very lively: for example, for the Rentrée du Campus in October, students from all the schools of the city were gathered, it was great to be able to meet all these people at once and to create a lot of links.