Olivier Laban-Mattei is a French

documentary photographer Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life. It is typically undertaken as professional pho ...

, photojournalist and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

. He won 3 World Press Photo awards.

Biography

Olivier Laban-Mattei was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

in 1977 and grew up there. He studied geography and sociology and became a self-taught photographer. After 10 years at Agence France-Presse covering international news (wars in Iraq, Gaza, Georgia, the Iranian uprising, the earthquake in Haiti, Java, the cyclone in Burma...), he began a career as a freelance photographer in 2010. While continuing to follow certain current events for newspapers (Tunisian revolution, war in Libya, war in Yemen, crisis in South Sudan...), he also devotes himself to long-term projects, such as the one carried out in Mongolia in 2013 and 2014 on the effects of pollution on society, for which he published a book, Mongols (ed Les Belles Lettres, 2013). He collaborated with several humanitarian organizations and in 2014-2015 he worked with Baptiste de Cazenove to carry out in-depth work for the UNHCR on the Central African crisis and conflict-related traumas. He has been a permanent member of the MYOP agency since 2013. He regularly works with French newspapers such as

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France ...

Le Figaro Magazine ''Le Figaro Magazine'' is a French language weekly news magazine published in Paris, France. The magazine is the weekly supplement of the daily newspaper ''Le Figaro''. History and profile The magazine is the first supplement of ''Le Figaro'' ne ...

. Between 2016 and 2019, in parallel with his photographic work, he co-directed the documentary film Breathless with Baptiste de Cazenove. In 2020, with his son Lisandru Laban-Giuliani, he started a project on Greenland society, Neige Noire, mixing photography and anticipation storytelling. He dedicates most of his current work to the question of the destructuring of societies and new forms of colonialism.Neige noire
(in French)

Awards

*2018, Public Prize of Days Japan (war in Yemen) *2017, Grant (1st prize) from La Scam for his video documentary, "Apnée" (with Baptiste de Cazenove). *2011: Best of Photojournalism 2011 (BOP-NPPA), 1st prize in "Natural Disaster" category *2011: World Press Photo, 1st prize story in General News category *2010: Paris-Match award, 1st prize *2010:

Bayeux-Calvados Awards for war correspondents The Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award for war correspondents (French: Prix Bayeux Calvados-Normandie des correspondants de guerre), previously the Bayeux-Calvados Awards for war correspondents, is an annual prize awarded since 1994, by the city of Ba ...

, 2nd prize *2010: Fotoweek DC, 3rd Prize - Series-Photojournalism/Social Documentary *2010: World Press Photo, 2nd Prize story in Spot News category *2010: Special award from the Jury of Days Japan *2010: Pictures of the year international (POYi), Award of excellence *2010: Pictures of the year international (POYi), 2nd Prize *2009: Special award from the Jury of the international festival of photojournalism of Gijon *2009:

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization is known for holding an annual press photography contest. Since 2011, World Press Photo has organized a ...

, 3rd prize story in General News category *2007: Bendrihem's 1st prize for the best European political photo *2006: Paris-Match award, 1st prize

References

External links

Olivier Laban-Mattei Official Website (with image galleries)
tage {{DEFAULTSORT:Laban-Mattei, Olivier 1977 births Living people French photographers Documentary photographers French documentary film directors