Biography:
Patrick Zachman, Born 1955 (France), lives in Paris. As a freelance photographer since 1976 and then joining Magnum Photos in 1985, Patrick Zachmann has dedicated himself to long-term reportages that bring to light the complex identities and cultures of social groups and communities in various countries.
His 1982 work on the Naples police and mafia -the Camorra- led to a collection of cinematographic photographs that also inspired the publication of a fictional book. From 1982 to 1984, Zachmann explored the lives of immigrant teenagers in the north of Marseille.
After working intensely on a personal project about Jewish identity, Patrick Zachmann published his second book “Inquest of identity” in 1987. In 1989, he was awarded the prestigious Prix Niepce for his oeuvre.
Over a period of six years, Zachmann pursued an in-depth work on the Chinese diaspora in different parts of the world. This gave rise to the publication of “W. or the eye of a long-nose” in 1995, which was hailed by critics. The book was accompanied by an exhibition that traveled to ten countries in Asia and Europe.
Between 1996 and 1998, Patrick Zachmann directed the short film “The memory of my father”, followed by his first feature-length film “Back and Forth. Diary of a photographer”, which is about the disappearance of traces of memory, especially in Chile. In 2006, Zachmann started working on a new project in China titled “Chinese confusions “and for which he was awarded the l’Aide à la Création de la Délégation aux Arts Plastiques (DAP).
Between 2006 and 2008, Zachmann worked on a feature film titlled Bar Centre des Autocars. In May 2009, Zachmann presented a retrospective on his works concerned with immigration and suburbs in France at Cité Nationale d’Histoire de l’Immigration (CNHI), the Paris Center for Immigration History and published the book “Ma proche banlieue” (My dearest neighborhoods).
Recently, Patrick Zachmann has been working on a project covering illegal immigration in Europe. He has been selected as one of the artists assigned for Marseille-Provence 2013 for which he presents a movie and a book called “Mare Mater” at Le Mucem Museum, and Nicéphore Niepce museum in Châlon sur Saone. (Fev-Mai 2015)
He is regularly collaborating with the “Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs” (ENSAD) in Paris and with the ISFCI photographic school in Rome. He is running regularly and internationally workshops.
He is represented by Magnum Gallery and by Clair Gallery.
BOOKS
Mare Mater, Editions Actes Sud, France 2013
Ma proche banlieue (My dearest suburbs), Editions Xavier Barral, France, 2009
Photo Poche Patrick Zachmann, Robert Delpire, France, 2009
Good Nights, Biro éditeur, France, 2008
Chili, les routes de la mémoire, Marval, France, 2002
Maliens, ici et là-bas, Plume, France, 1997
20 ans de rêves, Syria Editions,Paris, 1994
W. ou l’oeil d’un long-nez, Marval, France, 1995
Enquête d’identité, Contrejour, France, 1987
Madonna!, Cahiers du Cinéma, France, 1983
AWARDS PHOTOGRAPHY (selection):
2009 Plus Beaux Livres de l’Année for Ma proche banlieue (Ed. Barral), Paris.
2007 Aide à la Création de la Délégation aux Arts Plastiques (DAP) Ministry of Culture, Paris.
1992 Art Directors Club Merit Award, New York.
1989 Prix Niépce, Paris.
1986 Prix Villa Médicis Hors Les Murs, Paris.
Exhibitions: Mare Mater
A book, an exhibition and a movie of Patrick Zachmann, member of Magnum Photos.
“This is about a journey, a journey through memories and exiles. A journey that spins and weaves all the destinies I stumble upon. The fate of the emigrants leaving their country south of the Mediterranean Sea in order to evade joblesness, boredom, the lack of a future, and the fate of the mothers who let them go away or realize that they’re gone. Sometimes, they never come back. The sons perish at sea. And if they manage to reach the opposite shore, then Europe is never as prosperous, magnificent and welcoming as they imagined it in their dreams.
This is the story of sons leaving their mothers, of mothers missing their sons. And this is also my own mother’s story, now reaching the term of her life, who left Algeria at the same age than the young migrants I met for that project.
I have done the travel in reverse. I left in search of my long-forgotten origins, of the missing images in my family photo album.
Book with DVD: Mare Mater Publisher Actes Sud.
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