Mathias Depardon grew up in France, Belgium, and the U.S. After studying communication and journalism in Brussels, Mathias briefly joined the Belgian national newspaper Le Soir before devoting himself to reportage and feature work. His immersive process, and slower approach to journalism contribute to the production of comprehensive bodies of work that reveal and frame important social, economic, political, and environmental issues in volatile regions, such as those in Turkey and Iraq, where he questions the idea of identity and territory.
In Tales from the Land in Between he focuses on the impoverishment of the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, highlighting the emergence of a "water war" in a region already marred by violence and political unrest. For the past couple of years, Depardon has been working on a new project called Moving Sand, where he reports on the use of sand and the environmental and social consequences of its extraction. He has traveled throughout various regions of the world to produce six feature stories on sand in collaboration with and funded by the French news outlet Le Monde.
He was exhibited at the 49th edition of the Rencontres d'Arles as part of the “A Pillar of Smoke” exhibition, a look at Turkey’s contemporary photography scene. In 2019 he was among the photographers chosen for the “Regards du Grand Paris,” a French national grant sponsored by the Ateliers Médicis and the CNAP (National Center of Applied Arts). In 2020, Mathias Depardon won the Yves Rocher Foundation Photo Prize for his project on the rivers of Mesopotamia.In 2022, he was selected to be part of the Grande Commande for photojournalism granted by La Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF). His photographs have been exhibited at several institutions, such as the BNF, the Musée Carnavalet, the Musée des Archives Nationale in Paris, and, more recently, at the Filature de Mulhouse for his TransAnatolia exhibition. Éditions André Frère published TransAnatolia in 2020.
His work is published and regularly commissioned by leading international periodicals, including National Geographic, The New Yorker, M Le Magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine, Monocle among others. He is a member of the National Geographic Photo Society.
Solo/Group Exhibitions
2024 - Hôtel Fontfreyde - Centre photographique. Radioscopie de la France. Clermont- Ferrand, France
2024 - Le siècle des Vacances. Collection Fnac /Les Franciscaines. Deauville, France
2024 - Dysturb & Magnum Foundation. Reframe Climate. NY, USA
2024 - Neimënster. Earth is not Flat but soon will be. Luxembourg
2024 - Arter. Suppose You Are Not. Istanbul, Turkey
2024 - Bibliothèque National de France. Radioscopie de la France. Paris, France
2023 - Zoom Photo Festival Saguenay. Moving Sand. Chicoutimi, Canada
2023 - Hangar Photo Art Center. Floating Islands. Moving Sand. Brussels, Belgium
2022 - Musée Carnavalet. Les Regards du Grand Paris. TransUrbania. Paris, France
2022 - PhotoDoc. 6Mois. Tales From the Land in Between. Paris, France
2022 - Festival La Gacilly - Baden Photo. Les Larmes du Tigre. Baden, Autriche.
2022 - Les Magasins Généraux. Les Regards du Grand Paris / TransUrbania. Paris, France
2022 - La Friche Belle de Mai. Fraeme Project. Sous la Rose. Marseille, France
2022 - L’Alliance Française de Malaga. Avenir 2050. Tales From the Land in Between. Malaga, Es
2021 - La Filature. TRANS ANATOLIA. Mulhouse, France
2021 - Galerie Sit Down. TRANS ANATOLIA. Paris, France
2021 - Visa Pour l’Image. Projection of Tales From the Land in Between. Perpignan, France
2021 - Festival Ôrizons. TRANS ANATOLIA. Périgueux, France
2021 - La Gacilly. Les Larmes du Tigre. La Gacilly, France
2020 - Planches Contact. Being yourself is the best Revolution. Deauville, France
2019 - Paris Photo. TRANS ANATOLIA. Gallery The PILL. Paris, France
2019 - Photaumnales. Tales From the Land in Between. Groupshow. Beauvais, France
2019- ImageSingulières. Tales From the Land in Between. Solo Exhibition. Sète, France
2018- Jimei X Arles International Photo Festival. Une Colonne de Fumée. Group show. Xiamen, China
2018 - Thessaloniki Photo Biennale. Iron Earth, Copper Sky. Group Show. Thessaloniki, Greece
2018 - Les Rencontres d'Arles. Une Colonne de Fumée. Group show. Arles, France
2017 - Musée des Archives nationales. TRANS ANATOLIA. Solo Exhibition. Paris, France
2017 - Rule-Breakers The Exhibition. Gold Rivers. Group Show. London, England
2017 - Les Rencontres d’Arles. Projection of Gold Rivers. Arles, France
2017 - Just Another Photo Festival. The Wild West. Varanasi, India
2017 - Tbilisi Photo Festival. Gold Rivers. Tbilisi, Georgia
2016 - Tianshui Photography Biennale. Postcards From The Black Sea. Tianshui, China
2015 - Foto Istanbul Festival. Postcards From The Black Sea. Istanbul, Turkey
2015 - Institut Français d’Istanbul. Postcards From The Black Sea. Istanbul, Turkey
2014 - Transcontinent/Obscura Photo Festival. Postcards FromThe Black Sea. Penang, Malaysia
2013 - Mahal Cultural Center. Beyond Borders. Cannakale, Turkey
2013 - Institut Français d’Istanbul. Beyond Borders. Istanbul, Turkey
2012 - Hannover Young Photojournalism Lumix Festival. Beyond Borders. Hannover, Germany
2012 - Dust and Scratches Gallery. Beyond Borders. Moscow, Russia
2011 - Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Bourse du Talent. Beyond Borders. Paris, France
2011 - Press Scoop Grand Lille. Un Printemps Arabe. Group Show. Lille, France
2011 - Instituto Cervantes. Revolutiones with CensuraLab and MJR. Group Show. New York, USA
Awards/Grants
2023 - Prix Nièpce. Nomination. Paris, France
2022 - Prix Pictet. 'Human'. Moving Sand. Nomination. London, UK
2022 - La Bibliothèque nationale de France. Radioscopie de la France. Paris, France
2022 - Fondation François Schneider. Talents Contemporains. Finalist. Strasbourg, France
2021 - Prix Pictet. 'Fire'.Tales From the Land of Fire. Nomination. London, UK
2020 - Yves Rocher Foundation Grant. Winner. Visa / Perpignan, France
2019 - Atelier Medicis / CNAP. Les Regards du Grand Paris. Laureate. Paris, France
2018 - Grand Prix de la Photographie Documentaire. Images Singulières/Mediapart. Finalist. Sète, France
2018 - CNAP. Soutien à la Photographie Documentaire et Contemporaine. Nominee. Paris, France
2016 - Gd4Photoart Award by MAST Foundation. Shotlisted nominee. Bologna, Italy
2011 - International Photography Awards. Honorable Mention. Editorial Reportage. Los Angeles, USA
2011 - Bourse du Talent/Reportage. Winner. Paris, France