Some of the Greatest Names in Photography at Spéos
In 2020, Spéos students enrolled in the RNCP Photographer and the European Master of Professional Photography programs were able to meet some of the greatest names in photography within the framework of the Expert Modules: Sebastião Salgado, Sarah Moon, Jane Evelyn Atwood, Harry Gruyaert and Reza Deghati. They could also exchange with key players in the photography market, such as Jean-François Leroy, François Hébel, Guillaume Piens and Dimitri Beck. Spéos warmly thanks them all for the time they spent talking to our students, sharing their passion and enthusiasm!
The great photographer Sebastião Salgado shared his experience, know-how and best practices with the students. A humanist photographer of Franco-Brazilian origin, he works mainly in black and white film. In 1994, he created the photo press agency Amazonas Images in Paris, together with his wife Lélia Wanick Salgado. He is known for his monumental work Genesis consisting of black and white series of landscapes, fauna, flora and human communities living according to ancestral traditions. In 2016, the photographer joined the Paris Academy of Fine Arts in the Photography section.
Sarah Moon is a world-renowned fashion photographer who has worked with Vogue, Chanel and Dior. She shows women from a particular angle because of her relationship with the models, whose universe she shared during her youth. As an artist, her black and white polaroid photos mix romanticism, sensuality and nostalgia. Her exhibition PasséPrésent is currently on view at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris. Our students of the studio specialization truly enjoyed her rich and inspiring presentation!
Jane Evelyn Atwood, a French-American photographer, presented her photographic journey at Spéos. Her work is dedicated to the notion of exclusion: blind people, Parisian prostitutes, female incarceration. A great moment of inspiration for the students!
Harry Gruyaert is a European pioneer of color photography and a member of the Magnum Photos agency since 1981. A Belgian photographer, he has placed his many travels at the heart of his photographic approach. An inexhaustible source of inspiration for the Spéos students!
Reza Deghati (simply know as Reza) shared his experience and exceptional career with the Spéos students. A wonderful meeting with this French photojournalist of Iranian origin, exiled in France since 1981.
Jean-François Leroy is the director and founder of “Visa pour l’image“, the one and only worldwide festival dedicated to photojournalism, which takes place every year in Perpignan (France).
François Hébel propelled the Rencontres d’Arles to the international scene. As the current director of the prestigious Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, he presented his vision of the photo market and discussed its future with the Spéos students.
Guillaume Piens is since June 2011 the General Curator of Art Paris Art Fair, the spring meeting point for modern and contemporary art at the Grand Palais. His experience and recommendations on the world of art fairs and the photography market have been very enriching to the Spéos students.
Dimitri Beck is the Director of Photography of Polka Magazine. He presented the realities of the profession of press photographer to the students with the topic: “How to live from, by and for photography”. Dimitri also teaches in the Photojournalism program by Polka & Spéos in 5 months in Paris.
