“Stéphan Gladieu,  48-year-old French photographer, began his career in 1989 as a war and reportage photographer, criss-crossing Europe, surveying the far reaches of Central Asia and the Middle East, from Afghanistan to Iran, via Iraq, Egypt or Pakistan, moving from India, to Nepal, from Vietnam to China …

He soon turned to portraiture to illustrate the human condition in all 4 corners of the globe. After portraits of the world’s greats, actors and directors backstage at the Cannes Film Festival, politicians and intellectuals, it was mainly the ordinary people he met during his missions and travels around the world that caught his attention and soon had him spotted by the major magazines with which he has since collaborated.

For Le Figaro Magazine, he produces a large number of international reports and portrait series, for the economic, political, social and cultural sections.

Stephan also works with major international groups (LVMH, Danone, TOTAL, … and international institutions such as the World Bank or UNICEF, who generally call on him to work on their institutional visual identity.

His reports have been the subject of numerous publications in France and internationally, and his photographs are distributed by Getty Images. “

After half a century of existence, North Korea is one of the most hated countries in the world, but also one of the most misunderstood. Clearly, the radical nature of this paradox conceals a reality more complex than what we are given to see: war, famine, dissidents, nuclear program, military parades and parades…

Followed, framed, accompanied step by step throughout his stay in North Korea, Stéphan Gladieu invents a space of freedom within the framework imposed on him. The existence of this photographic series depends intimately on the relationship the photographer has forged with his hosts. By choosing the portrait-mirror, often framed from the full-length, which requires a frontal pose and a direct gaze, Stéphan Gladieu has come close to the propaganda image and made his approach if not familiar, at least understandable to North Koreans.

This series will undoubtedly return some of our representation, but it may also allow us to see North Koreans through their own eyes.

At Éditions Actes Sud.

DELIVER THURSDAY NOVEMBER 5 FROM 6 PM AT THE CANAL’S EDGE