Contacting 50 people, some friends and some complete strangers, Noemie asked them to tell her a personal story; a desire or dream, fantasy or obsession. After interviewing each of her subjects she then planned stage settings and photographed each person acting out their story to produce a visual interpretation of their secret.

Obsessed with foam, Maria describes her fascination as an addiction. Remembering an afternoon from her early childhood, cooking pancakes with her father and learning to whisk egg-white Maria quickly became obsessed with foam, wanting to touch and eat it, even fill a bath and bathe in it.

For the picture Noemie and Maria worked together to find the best way to show this secret desire. Maria had the idea to dress up and take on the role of an aristocratic heroine. Wearing a fur collared coat dress, a string of pearls and with her hair arranged as if for an evening out, she sits with perfect poise.

The sense of the absurd, reflecting the bizarre nature of Maria's addiction, is beautifully realised in the contradiction between the cool sophistication of our heroine and her hand immersed in white fluffy clouds of foam.