Jean-Christian Bourcart

After a career as photojournalist, Jean-Christian Bourcart (born in 1960 in Colmar, France) first gained attention in the art world, for "Infertile Madonnas" (1992), a series of photographs taken in Frankfurt brothels, which was widely exhibited and also published with an introduction by Nan Goldin. He has been living and working in New York since 1997.

He also published "Forbidden City" (1999), an investigation of swinging and S&M clubs shot with a hidden camera; "Traffic," a study of commuters caught in traffic jams (2004); and "Sinon la mort te gagnait" ("if not, Death would have overtaken you", 2008), an autobiography mixing text and photographs. His last bodies of works include "Stardust," in which he photographed the image on the glass that separates the projection room from the audience in movie theaters, and "Collateral", in which he projected photographs of Iraqi war victims on houses, churches and supermarkets in the American countryside. In 2010, he shot his second feature movie “Memories of the days to come”, a sci-fi thriller in New York art world, starring the awards-winner Elodie Bouchez. In 2009, he documented Camden, NJ, which is one of the poorest and most dangerous cities in the U.S. Bourcart tried to understand and witness what is the real life behind the statistics. Camden was published by Images en Manoeuvre as a bilingual book which won the Nadar prize for best photographic book in France in November 2011. From 2009, he develops "I shot the crowd", a work on human crowds. While traveling through major cities in the world, he records the uninterrupted flows of people and questions the interactivity between them as individual and crowds.

Solo exhibitions (selection)

• 2012 Shanghai Gallery of Art, China

Galerie Le Manège, Institut français, Dakar, Sénégal Caochangdi PhotoSpring, Beijing, China Le bleu du ciel Art Center, Lyon, France

• 2011‘’Kailash,’’ Galerie VU’, Paris

Galerie Confluence, Nantes ‘’Kailash,’’ Hôtel Fontfreyde, Clermont Ferrand Images - Festival des arts visuels de Vevey

• 2010 “Camden", Museum für Photographie Braunschweig
• "10th International photo Exhibition," Shanghai
• "Camden", Images - Festival des arts visuels de Vevey
• 2009: “Camden”, Rencontres Internationales d’Arles
• 2008: “Le plus beau jour de la vie,” Rencontres Internationales d’Arles
• 2007: “Stardust”, Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York; Musée du Jeu de Paume, Paris; “Stardust,” Chrysler Museum, Norfolk,
• 2006: “Traffic,” Museu da Imagem, Braga, Portugal
• 2006: "Traffic", Fototeca, Monterrey, Mexico
• 2004: “Traffic”, Galerie Léo Scheer, Paris
• 2002: “Le plus beau jour de la vie”, Kagan Martos Gallery, New York
• 2001: “Forbidden city”, galerie Catherine Bastide, Bruxelles
• 2000: Galerie du Jour, Paris
• 1993: “Les filles de la gare centrale,” Galerie Urbi & Orbi, Paris

Filmography

• 2011 ‘’Fortune Tellers,’’ HDV, 12min, CrossEyed Production
• 2010: “Memories of the days to come” 35mm, 80 min, Le Bureau production
• 2008: “Encore une fois,” DV, 4 min. 30
• 2007: “Stardust, the film,” DV, 1 min. 30
• 2006: “Me, my cell and I’,” DV, 9 min
• 2005: “It’s today”, DV, 7 min; “The decisive act,” DV, 8 min. 30; “Stories of hell,” DV, 6 min. 15
• 2004: “Rapture,” DV, 10 min. 30; “Bardo/Autoportrait,” DV, 5min. 15
• 2003: “Videhole,” DV, 2 min. 30
• 1999: “(de) la fenêtre,” vidéo, 26 min D.A.P, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication
• 1997: “Elvis,” fiction movie, 35 mm, 65 min,Lazennec Production
• 1996: “Céline en galère,” video, 46 min, Io Production
• 1993: “Casablanca,” video with Robert Frank, 8 min
• 1992: “Les filles de la gare centrale,” vidéo, 12 min

Bibliography

1. Monographies

• 2011 "Camden," Images en Manœuvre éditions
• 2008 “Sinon la mort te gagnait”, Point du jour éditions
• 2004 “Traffic”, Leo Scheer editions, interview by Brigitte Ollier
• 2002 “Madones Infertiles,” text by Nan Goldin, TDM édition
• 1999 “Forbidden City,” text by Régis Jauffret, interview by Brigitte Ollier, Le point du jour éditeur
• 1998 “C’était cinq heures du soir,” text by Jean Rolin, Le point du jour éditeur

2. Periodicals

• ‘’Le goncourt de la photo‘’ in La dépêche du midi, January 2012
• "Kailash,‘’ by Dominique Baqué in Art Press, September 2011
• ‘’Kailash‘’, in l’Humanite, p.19, May 2011
• ‘’Kailash‘’, in Le Monde, P.43, April 2011
• ‘’The Most Beautiful Day, ‘’ in British journal of Photography, P.46-53, March 2011
• "Camden, USA," in Usbeck &Rica, p. 54-65, winter 2010
• "Traffic," in Zoom, by Cristina Franzoni, p. 102-104
• "Photographier la misère comme un exorcisme," by Armelle Canitrot in La Croix, p. 14, August 17, 2009
• "Sinon la mort," by Jacques Henric in Artpress nº351, p 74, December 2008
• “J’aime franchir les frontières”, Interview in “le Monde”, July 12, 2008
• “Collateral,” in Esquire, Russia, Dec. 2007
• “Stardust,” by Robert Stevens in Next Level, Spring 2007
• “Jean-Christian Bourcart, images violentes”, by Hélène Simon in Le Monde, May 4, 2007
• “Qu’est-ce que la photographie aujourd’hui ?”, by Brigitte Ollier in Beaux Arts éditions p. 62-63, May 2007
• "Stardust," by Vince Aletti in The New Yorker, February 19 & 27, 2007
• "Se raconter que tout est illusion," interview by Frédéric Bonnet in Le Journal des Arts, Dec. 1, 2007

Prizes

• 2011 Nadar prize for best photographic book for Camden
• 2010 Niépce Prize, Paris
• 2006 Prix du du Jeu de Paume, Paris
• 1999 Prix Gilles Dusein, Paris
• 1997 Prix d’interprétation masculine, “Premiers Plans,” Festival de Belfort
• 1997 Prix du Jury, Festival d’Annecy
• 1991 World Press Awards, categorie Art, Amsterdam
• 1984 Prix Polaroïd

External links

• Jean-Christian Bourcart Official Website
• Jean-Christian Bourcart @ Photography-now.com