BEHIND THE LENS

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Franck Courtel was born in Brittany (France).
After studying foreign languages such as English and Spanish, he decides to travel through Australia, Mexico, Croatia, Libanon, Syria,… Indeed, the knowledge of some different languages was the key to discover the world.
The first journey to Australia will have an effect of “developer” on him. Back to France in 1995, he buys his first reflex camera and begins a work on people living in the bare necessities in the remote country of Brittany, France. In general, Franck prefers works of investigation and likes to go back several times to the place he photographs.
In parallel, Franck goes on working in México, his land of preference and more precisely in the area of Oaxaca and Guerrero with the afro community located on the Costa Chica, near Acapulco. In the same time, in 2009, he started working with the Seri Indian community in the desert of Sonora, Mexico.
Franck works and collaborates with the press ( Le Monde Diplomatique, La Vie, Leica Magazine,…) and also works in collaboration with researchers, anthropologist, ethnologist (IRD France, INAH México ).
His photography, which “trademark” is the black & white, is definitively centered on human kind in his environment and metamorphosis. The portrait prevails, revealing in the same time, the crucial importance, the unique and intimate aspect he gives to the relationship he can have with the people who accept to stay in front of his lens.
In September 2012, he was awarded the First Photographic Price for the 2nd National Congress of Anthropology in México with his work on Afro-descendants on Mexican Pacific Coast.