Raymond Depardon

Born into a family of peasants, he discovered photography as a child, and chose his family farm and the countryside as his first subjects – this would have a profound effect on his work. In the 1960s, he became a photojournalist and joined the Dalmas agency. In 1966, he founded Gamma with Gilles Caron, and, in 1978, Depardon began working with Magnum. In 1984, he participated in the French government's DATAR photographic project. His photographic reportages, often accompanied by texts and annotations, defied conventions and revealed his unique view of the world. Depardon was also the author of twenty-five critically acclaimed feature films, several of which were made with Claudine Nougaret. In 1995, his film Caught in the Act won a César. In 1988, his film Urgences won the Grand Prize for documentary film at the Firenze Film Festival, and Untouched by the West (2003) was part of the Official Selection at the Venice Film Festival.

The Fondation Cartier has a long-standing relationship with Depardon that has stretched over three decades. Based on our communal vision of contemporary society, its challenges and its failures, this consistent dialogue has only grown richer over the course of fifteen solo and collective exhibitions, nineteen books and eight films. This close collaboration is evident in the Fondation Cartier, which holds over 500 photographs by the artist. This exchange has led Depardon to new pastures, and to encounters with a variety of communities and cultures. The collective exhibition Yanomami, l'Esprit de la Forêt (2003) shows Depardon's encounter with the Yanomami in the Amazon, and Terre Natale, Ailleurs Commence Ici (2008) an exhibition conceived in collaboration with the philosopher Paul Virilio, explores the concepts behind putting down roots and being uprooted, migration, and the disappearance of languages, all questions that have traversed the body of Depardon's oeuvre, and which also resonate with the mission of the Fondation Cartier. Between 2021 and 2023, the Fondation Cartier also presented the exhibition La Vie Moderne at the Milan Triennale, and the Power Station of Art in Shanghai. It pays tribute to the artist's achievements in his photographic and filmic examination of the world of contemporary rural France.