JEAN-MARIE BABONNEAU | BIOGRAPHY
photographer | video artist | art director

Artist born in France, photographer, video artist and art director Jean-Marie Babonneau grew up with two cultures due to the expatriation of his French parents in Germany in the 70s. Back to France to continue his studies, he birfurcated from his scientific studies to enter the Academy of Fine Arts in Nantes where he fell in love with the creative potential of photography. After studying 5 years in Nantes, he was admitted into the French National School of Photography in Arles where he graduated in 1999. During his student years in Arles, the young photographer worked in Lucien Clergue’s darkroom and made exhibition prints from the original negatives featuring Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau and many nudes by the master, co-founder of the International Photography Festival in Arles.

Upon completing his studies in 1999, his taste for the exploration of foreign cultures led Jean-Marie Babonneau to Reykjavik in Iceland, where he began his professional career by shooting many portraits of Icelandic and international artists and musicians for over 3 years. He created a photographic book prototype and conceived photographic and video installations.

In late 2002, the photographer moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, continuing his nordic journey. Still living in the danish capital city, he both works on art projects, photography workshops as an intervening artist and teacher and on photographic commissions for the press and other clients.

In 2013, he began his exploration of Belarus and travels there regularly to enrich his series of photographs and to find local artists to create new collaborative projects.

The artistic work of Jean-Marie Babonneau willingly mixes genres drawing in both the real world and in the imaginary world, with a special taste for scenes staged in mundane places at night, time of sleep and dreams, and transforms them into spaces imbued with an eloquent mystery. His photographs and video installations often try to infuse us some poetry to help us rediscover our common places, through his foreign xenophilic eye filled with an insatiable curiosity.

Website : www.babonneau.com
Email : jm [at] babonneau.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jmbabonneau
Tel.: +45 26 40 55 04

A SELECTION OF ART WORKS 1990 – 2015 (pdf to download, 11,3 Mb) : CLICK HERE.

● 2018   Les Rencontres d’Arles – photo festival, photographic series, installation & photo book dummies in preparation.

● 2016   Belarus Study Tour, photographic series about Belarus – exhibition & photo catalogue coming in 2018.

● 2014   How I met your mother, photo book and long feature movie under construction – action takes place in Minsk, Belarus in 2013 and 2014.

● 2013   Tours & Détours, first solo exhibition in France (photography + video installation). August 2013 in Chapelle de l’Hôpital, in Pornic, France.

● 2013   Le Petit Tour | Paris-Copenhagen, an interactive video installation on bicycle. January 2013 at the French Art Day festival, in Øksnehallen in Copenhagen, Denmark. In collaboration with digital designer Frédéric Dilé.

● 2012   Muses & Mazes, photography book prototype. January 2012 at the French Art Day festival, in Øksnehallen in Copenhagen, Denmark. Article in danish newspaper Politiken/iByen, friday 20th january 2012.

● 2011   Muses & Mazes, photography book prototype – design and layout v.1.0 featuring a selection of works made between 1990-2011. Design and layout process between Nov. 2010 – Jan. 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

● 2010   Camera Lucida | La Chambre Claire, video-installation. May 2010, Copenhagen Photo Festival, in Copenhagen. 2 pages in CPF catalogue 2010 (p.220-221). Installation featuring videos and stop-motion animations shot in 1999 in Arles, France, 2003 in Reykjavik, Iceland and in 2010 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

● 2010   13 Interviews About Captain Danmark, 16’00, 4:5, PAL, video-interviews on the streets of Copenhagen of 13 persons – April 2010 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

● 2008   Regards Français sur l’Europe, collective photography exhibition. At the European House in Dublin, Ireland, sept. 2008.

● 2008   The Neighbour | Naboen | La Voisine, 11’11, 16:9, PAL, fiction short movie, that I have written, directed and produced. September-November 2008, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

● 2008   Captain Danmark (Denmark’s new superhero), 8’30, 4:5, PAL, performance on the streets of Copenhagen + projection of the performance-video at the WeDoubleYou art event. December 2008, at Råhuset in Copenhagen.

● 2007   The Healer, photographic series. Projection at La Nuit de l’Année. July 2007. Les Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, France. Portfolio published in www.photographie.com

● 2003   Meet Me In Copenhagen, photographic e-book (online). January 2003, Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally on : http://this.is/better_world_inc

● 2002   Your Brand New Ancestral Eyes, photographic series in book prototype + installation. August 2002 at Nasa, in Reykjavík, Iceland.

● 2001   The Comet Night, 4’37, 4:5, PAL, animation short movie + street-projection. August 2001. On Laugavegur, in Reykjavík, Iceland.

● 1999   One World, One Family (a family photo-album revisited #2), collective photo-procedure with 22 participants in 6 countries, in 12 cities during 28 days (may 1998) + installation. June 1999. Diploma exhibition at École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie, in Arles, France.

● 1998   Walls Of Emotion (a family photo-album revisited #1), photographic series in book-prototype. July 1998. Curated projection at Voies Off, Les Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, in Arles, France.

● 1995   Thanatographies (Danse Macabre), photographic series. June 1995. Diploma exhibition at École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, in Nantes, France.