Stephan Gladieu was born in 1969, he lives and works
in Paris. He began his career as a photographer in 1989,
covering the news and the major conflicts that shook
the world (the fall of Ceausescu, the aftermath of Katrina
in New Orleans, etc.). During these years working on
feature stories, he developed a personal style based on
portraits, combining aesthetic research and rigorous
documentary work.
Today, he focuses mainly on personal series dealing
with historical, anthropological or sociological facts
that are not well-known to the general audience (the
Hereros genocide in Namibia, the secret societies of
Benin, the daily life of North Koreans, etc.).
Stephan Gladieu’s photographic approach is based on
the quote by Victor Hugo: «Form is the substance that
rises to the surface». He develops his work as a portraitist
by creating images that are becoming more and
more iconic, luminous and offbeat, blurring the lines
between fiction and reality. Each of the faces and sceneries
he captures compose unique, even magical portraits,
of which only Stephan knows the formula.
His work is regularly exhibited in France
and abroad. He is represented by the Olivier Castaing/
School Gallery-Paris
