Raphaël
Neal

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 The Windows of the World (2019), evokes the solitude experienced by characters who seem withdrawn from the world, hiding behind their windows.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

New Waves, 2021

Series | Heat waves, floods, tornadoes, advancing of deserts… The disasters that populate our imagination and make us shiver with pleasure in science fiction scenarios are increasingly intruding into our reality.

Discreet Peaks, 2020

Series | During summer 2020, between the two lockdowns, Raphaël Neal discovered the Peak District, a mountainous and mysterious region of central England.

Dark Circus, 2020

Serie | Dark Circus is a collection of self-portraits produced in London during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The Windows of the World, 2019

Serie | Like « Miss Lonely » in Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954), these solitary characters wait, talk to themselves or play on their own, too afraid to step outside.

The Pied Piper, 2019

Serie | First series of self-portraits since IKWIG! (2011-2014), these images evoke the solitude experienced by characters who seem withdrawn from the world, both passive spectators of a world that goes on without them and entertainment for those who notice them, hiding behind their windows.

Gone Fishing, 2017

Serie | Upon leaving Paris in 2017, Raphaël Neal settled for several weeks in a house next to the erupting crater of Stromboli, on the mythical island of the same name made famous by Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman.

Les nouveaux vestiges, 2017

Serie | Inspired by his passion for cinema and his collections of cinema and theatre memorabilia, Raphaël Neal produced two similar series: Rescapee and Les Nouveaux vestiges (The New Remnants).

Rescapee, 2015

Serie | Inspired by his passion for cinema and his collections of cinema and theatre memorabilia, Raphaël Neal produced two similar series: Rescapee and Les Nouveaux vestiges (The New Remnants).

IKWIG !, 2014

Serie | The self-portraits from this series share one key similarity: they are related to the production and the direction of Raphaël Neal’s first feature film, Fever, released in theatres in October 2015.

Bates Productions, 2011

Serie | As a child, Raphaël Neal named his imaginary film production company Bates Productions, in tribute to the title character of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Norman Bates.

De qui aurais-je crainte ?, 2011

Serie | With the desire to leave behind the artificial light and richdecoration of studio sets in order to create pictures in naturewithout roads or construction, Raphaël Neal imagined a series built around the colour red.

New Waves, 2021

Series | Heat waves, floods, tornadoes, advancing of deserts… The disasters that populate our imagination and make us shiver with pleasure in science fiction scenarios are increasingly intruding into our reality.

Discreet Peaks, 2020

Series | During summer 2020, between the two lockdowns, Raphaël Neal discovered the Peak District, a mountainous and mysterious region of central England.

Dark Circus, 2020

Serie | Dark Circus is a collection of self-portraits produced in London during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The Windows of the World, 2019

Serie | Like « Miss Lonely » in Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954), these solitary characters wait, talk to themselves or play on their own, too afraid to step outside.

The Pied Piper, 2019

Serie | First series of self-portraits since IKWIG! (2011-2014), these images evoke the solitude experienced by characters who seem withdrawn from the world, both passive spectators of a world that goes on without them and entertainment for those who notice them, hiding behind their windows.

Gone Fishing, 2017

Serie | Upon leaving Paris in 2017, Raphaël Neal settled for several weeks in a house next to the erupting crater of Stromboli, on the mythical island of the same name made famous by Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman.

Les nouveaux vestiges, 2017

Serie | Inspired by his passion for cinema and his collections of cinema and theatre memorabilia, Raphaël Neal produced two similar series: Rescapee and Les Nouveaux vestiges (The New Remnants).

Rescapee, 2015

Serie | Inspired by his passion for cinema and his collections of cinema and theatre memorabilia, Raphaël Neal produced two similar series: Rescapee and Les Nouveaux vestiges (The New Remnants).

IKWIG !, 2014

Serie | The self-portraits from this series share one key similarity: they are related to the production and the direction of Raphaël Neal’s first feature film, Fever, released in theatres in October 2015.

Bates Productions, 2011

Serie | As a child, Raphaël Neal named his imaginary film production company Bates Productions, in tribute to the title character of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Norman Bates.

De qui aurais-je crainte ?, 2011

Serie | With the desire to leave behind the artificial light and richdecoration of studio sets in order to create pictures in naturewithout roads or construction, Raphaël Neal imagined a series built around the colour red.

New Waves, 2021

Series | Heat waves, floods, tornadoes, advancing of deserts… The disasters that populate our imagination and make us shiver with pleasure in science fiction scenarios are increasingly intruding into our reality.

Discreet Peaks, 2020

Series | During summer 2020, between the two lockdowns, Raphaël Neal discovered the Peak District, a mountainous and mysterious region of central England.

Dark Circus, 2020

Serie | Dark Circus is a collection of self-portraits produced in London during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The Windows of the World, 2019

Serie | Like « Miss Lonely » in Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954), these solitary characters wait, talk to themselves or play on their own, too afraid to step outside.

The Pied Piper, 2019

Serie | First series of self-portraits since IKWIG! (2011-2014), these images evoke the solitude experienced by characters who seem withdrawn from the world, both passive spectators of a world that goes on without them and entertainment for those who notice them, hiding behind their windows.

Gone Fishing, 2017

Serie | Upon leaving Paris in 2017, Raphaël Neal settled for several weeks in a house next to the erupting crater of Stromboli, on the mythical island of the same name made famous by Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman.

Les nouveaux vestiges, 2017

Serie | Inspired by his passion for cinema and his collections of cinema and theatre memorabilia, Raphaël Neal produced two similar series: Rescapee and Les Nouveaux vestiges (The New Remnants).

Rescapee, 2015

Serie | Inspired by his passion for cinema and his collections of cinema and theatre memorabilia, Raphaël Neal produced two similar series: Rescapee and Les Nouveaux vestiges (The New Remnants).

IKWIG !, 2014

Serie | The self-portraits from this series share one key similarity: they are related to the production and the direction of Raphaël Neal’s first feature film, Fever, released in theatres in October 2015.

Bates Productions, 2011

Serie | As a child, Raphaël Neal named his imaginary film production company Bates Productions, in tribute to the title character of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Norman Bates.

De qui aurais-je crainte ?, 2011

Serie | With the desire to leave behind the artificial light and richdecoration of studio sets in order to create pictures in naturewithout roads or construction, Raphaël Neal imagined a series built around the colour red.

multimedia

Showreel, 2020

Fever (trailer), 2015

Showreel, 2020

Fever (trailer), 2015

Showreel, 2020

Fever (trailer), 2015

books

Bates Production

Éditions de l’œil - 2019

De qui aurais-je crainte ?

Bec en l'Air Publishing - 2015

Bates Production

Éditions de l’œil - 2019

De qui aurais-je crainte ?

Bec en l'Air Publishing - 2015

Bates Production

Éditions de l’œil - 2019

De qui aurais-je crainte ?

Bec en l'Air Publishing - 2015

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