
Raphaël
Raphaël Neal

biography

Raphaël Neal was born on 1980 in Orsay, France. He lives and works between London and Paris.
Since 2005, his photographic sets up inspired by the cinema, literature or his own life experiences have been exhibited and published in France and internationally.
He published several monographs, including Bates Productions (2015, Le Bec en l’air Editions) that posters real actors starring in imaginary movies productions. And De qui aurais-je crainte ? (2019, L’Oeil Editions), a series shot between France and Iceland in locations containing no trace of civilization, that pays tribute to the virtues of faith and independence.
Guided by his cinephilia and his taste for cinema and theatre objects, he produced in 2015, Rescapee, a series inspired by movie memorabilia, and was followed by a cousin series Les Nouveaux vestiges (2017), inspired by theatre and opera memorabilia, both shot in natural Italian and Icelandic settings.
Through self-portraits he explores themes which continually fascinate him such as solitude and seduction, boredom and imposture. His series, IKWIG! (2014), depicts characters who seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong moment. The Windows of the World (2019), evokes the solitude experienced by characters who seem withdrawn from the world, hiding behind their windows. In 2020, during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he puts himself on stage in Dark Circus, a photo series that presents characters of a strange circus troupe waiting in a state of uncertainty and loneliness face to an absent audience. During the summer 2020, away from his studio and secluded in the English countryside, he produced Discreet Peaks, a series that is like an enchanted interlude between the two lockdowns and celebrates an ode to nature and the body. More recently, he started to work on a diptych-series, New Waves, that underlines the climatic change issues and contradictions, always behind a dreamlike and fictional dimension peculiar to Raphaël Neal.
In parallel of his personal photographic work, Raphaël Neal collaborates regularly with musicians of their press photos and music clip (The Divine Comedy, My Brightest Diamond, Clarika …). In 2015, he released his first long feature in France, Fever, adapted from the eponymous novel by Leslie Kaplan and released in France and United-States. He is now working on his second-long feature, Nuée ardente (Burning cloud), a road-movie in Italy.
Series


Discreet Peaks, 2020

Dark Circus, 2020

The Windows of the World, 2019

The Pied Piper, 2019

Gone Fishing, 2017

Les nouveaux vestiges, 2017

Rescapee, 2015

IKWIG !, 2014

Bates Productions, 2011

De qui aurais-je crainte ?, 2011

New Waves, 2021

Discreet Peaks, 2020

Dark Circus, 2020

The Windows of the World, 2019

The Pied Piper, 2019

Gone Fishing, 2017

Les nouveaux vestiges, 2017

Rescapee, 2015

IKWIG !, 2014

Bates Productions, 2011

De qui aurais-je crainte ?, 2011

New Waves, 2021

Discreet Peaks, 2020

Dark Circus, 2020

The Windows of the World, 2019

The Pied Piper, 2019

Gone Fishing, 2017

Les nouveaux vestiges, 2017

Rescapee, 2015

IKWIG !, 2014

Bates Productions, 2011

De qui aurais-je crainte ?, 2011
multimedia





books

Bates Production

De qui aurais-je crainte ?

Bates Production

De qui aurais-je crainte ?

Bates Production

De qui aurais-je crainte ?
awards

Winner of the Portrait of Britain Prize (United Kingdom)
For his portrait “Tom”
2021

Winner of the Portrait of Britain Prize (United Kingdom)
For his portrait “Girl in Herne Hill”
2020