Adrien
Selbert

Adrien Selbert

biography


Photographer, filmmaker, multimedia editor, born in 1985, member of Agence VU’ since 2017, based in Paris (France)

Graduated from the Beaux-Arts de Nantes and the Arts Décoratifs de Paris, Adrien Selbert overcomes the conventional limits imposed by imagesto show the contemporary world, its youth and diversity, in a sensitive relationship to time and substance.

In 2005, at twenty years old, he discovers Bosnia – a country that “jumped in his face” and that he has been documenting ever since. In 2010, he directs with Aude Léa Rapin “Nino’s Place“: this 52-minute documentary, awarded Best Grand Reportage at the Geneva International Film Festival of Human Rights, deals with the tireless struggle of a mother to find the body of her dead son Nino, a radio journalist who disappeared during the first days of the capture of Srebrenica in 1995.

With “Srebrenica, nuit à nuit” (Srebrenica, Night to Night), he reveals, through photography, the specificity of young Bosnians’ lives who evolve in the heart of the vestiges of a war that they had not lived but to which they are systematically brought back. “His images of Srebrenica are spare and silent. They are sometimes reminiscent of the work of the great American artist Edward Hopper, whose still, sharply illuminated canvases captured some essence of human melancholy and solitude. Like Hopper, Selbert deploys realism so powerful that it takes the viewer beyond the surface into interior lives. This is realism intensely imagined, full of a revelatory fatalism.” writes the New York Times editorialist Roger Cohen to accompany the monograph published by Le Bec en l’Air in 2016.

In 2020, his series “Les Bords réels” (The Real Shores) is an extension of his long-term project on Bosnia. Twenty-five years after the Dayton Accords and the end of the conflict, “‘Les Bords réels’ is a state of time more than a state of play. It’s a long-term wandering haunted by this question: is there an after to the post-war period ? It is meant to reflect the image of the country it crosses: fragmentary, vibrant and chaotic.” His eponym photographic video is awarded with the Freelens’ New writings prize.

In parallel with his personal work, in the Balkans, but also in France with notably “Prince Jordan“, a fiction he directs in 2019 about young people facing a disaster, Adrien Selbert puts his documentary know-how and the singularity of his artistic vision at the service of the Press (Libération, Télérama, Néon, etc.), the cultural world (music labels, theater and dance companies, etc.), companies (fashion and luxury, etc.) or institutions (high schools, etc.).

His work  is regularly exhibited and published, and has been distinguished with numerous awards and grants (Best Grand Reportage Award of the FIFDH, Prix Maison Blanche de la Photographie Contemporaine, the Freelens International Award for New Writings, MENTOR Jury Award, Emerging Talent Awards of LensCulture, grant to support contemporary documentary photography of the CNAP, Multimedia grant of the SCAM, etc.).

Series


Young & Queer

These photographs depict a portrait of young people in Ile-de-France who are eager to abolish gender boundaries in a joyful fury.

The Real Edges, 2020

Series | On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Bosnia in 2020, The Real Edges extends and completes the first photographic work by Adrien Selbert on Srebrenica.

La Créole, 2020

This series is an assigment for the newspaper Libération. The photographer Adrien Selbert was photographed the 1 year of the collective “LA CREOLE” at the Club Le Chinois in Montreuil.

Art & Fashion

Adrien Selbert was commissioned by the Libération, Néon Mag, Label Kiddermaster media to photograph the Paris Fashion week prêt-à-porter, fall-winter 2018-2019 collection...

The Ones Left Out of Telework, 2020

This report is an assigment for the newspaper Libération. The station of Juvisy (Essonne), in the southern suburbs of Paris, is one of the busiest in France in normal times. During the lockdown, the trains are half empty. There are still some shadowy workers, who sometimes board the train with fear in their stomachs.

Return of Nocturnal Fever, 2020

This series was commissioned by the newspaper Libération. Nearly 200 people gathered at Kilowatt, in the suburbs of Paris, for the first techno party since the end of the confinement...

Paris Gaypride, 2018

This work is an assigment for the French newspaper Libération. The photographer Adrien Selbert had photographed the 2018 Paris Gaypride.

Belgrade, Année Zéro 17, 2017

The cold spell has just hit Western Europe and has already been raging for several weeks in the East. It particularly threatens migrants trying to reach the Schengen area...

Srebrenica, From Night to Night, 2015

Srebrenica is the first great personal work of Adrien Selbert. The series has been awarded by many institutions. On 11 July 1995, the Bosnian Serb army attacked the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica. More than 8 000 men will be massacred in 3 days. Twenty years later, the city seems frozen in the darkness of its history...

Young & Queer

These photographs depict a portrait of young people in Ile-de-France who are eager to abolish gender boundaries in a joyful fury.

The Real Edges, 2020

Series | On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Bosnia in 2020, The Real Edges extends and completes the first photographic work by Adrien Selbert on Srebrenica.

La Créole, 2020

This series is an assigment for the newspaper Libération. The photographer Adrien Selbert was photographed the 1 year of the collective “LA CREOLE” at the Club Le Chinois in Montreuil.

Art & Fashion

Adrien Selbert was commissioned by the Libération, Néon Mag, Label Kiddermaster media to photograph the Paris Fashion week prêt-à-porter, fall-winter 2018-2019 collection...

The Ones Left Out of Telework, 2020

This report is an assigment for the newspaper Libération. The station of Juvisy (Essonne), in the southern suburbs of Paris, is one of the busiest in France in normal times. During the lockdown, the trains are half empty. There are still some shadowy workers, who sometimes board the train with fear in their stomachs.

Return of Nocturnal Fever, 2020

This series was commissioned by the newspaper Libération. Nearly 200 people gathered at Kilowatt, in the suburbs of Paris, for the first techno party since the end of the confinement...

Paris Gaypride, 2018

This work is an assigment for the French newspaper Libération. The photographer Adrien Selbert had photographed the 2018 Paris Gaypride.

Belgrade, Année Zéro 17, 2017

The cold spell has just hit Western Europe and has already been raging for several weeks in the East. It particularly threatens migrants trying to reach the Schengen area...

Srebrenica, From Night to Night, 2015

Srebrenica is the first great personal work of Adrien Selbert. The series has been awarded by many institutions. On 11 July 1995, the Bosnian Serb army attacked the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica. More than 8 000 men will be massacred in 3 days. Twenty years later, the city seems frozen in the darkness of its history...

Young & Queer

These photographs depict a portrait of young people in Ile-de-France who are eager to abolish gender boundaries in a joyful fury.

The Real Edges, 2020

Series | On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Bosnia in 2020, The Real Edges extends and completes the first photographic work by Adrien Selbert on Srebrenica.

La Créole, 2020

This series is an assigment for the newspaper Libération. The photographer Adrien Selbert was photographed the 1 year of the collective “LA CREOLE” at the Club Le Chinois in Montreuil.

Art & Fashion

Adrien Selbert was commissioned by the Libération, Néon Mag, Label Kiddermaster media to photograph the Paris Fashion week prêt-à-porter, fall-winter 2018-2019 collection...

The Ones Left Out of Telework, 2020

This report is an assigment for the newspaper Libération. The station of Juvisy (Essonne), in the southern suburbs of Paris, is one of the busiest in France in normal times. During the lockdown, the trains are half empty. There are still some shadowy workers, who sometimes board the train with fear in their stomachs.

Return of Nocturnal Fever, 2020

This series was commissioned by the newspaper Libération. Nearly 200 people gathered at Kilowatt, in the suburbs of Paris, for the first techno party since the end of the confinement...

Paris Gaypride, 2018

This work is an assigment for the French newspaper Libération. The photographer Adrien Selbert had photographed the 2018 Paris Gaypride.

Belgrade, Année Zéro 17, 2017

The cold spell has just hit Western Europe and has already been raging for several weeks in the East. It particularly threatens migrants trying to reach the Schengen area...

Srebrenica, From Night to Night, 2015

Srebrenica is the first great personal work of Adrien Selbert. The series has been awarded by many institutions. On 11 July 1995, the Bosnian Serb army attacked the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica. More than 8 000 men will be massacred in 3 days. Twenty years later, the city seems frozen in the darkness of its history...

MultimEdia


Show Reel, 2020

SHOW REEL | This video is a compilation of various commissions, made by photographer Adrien Selbert...

The Real Edges, 2020

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Bosnia in 2020, The Real Edges extends and completes the first photographic work...

Prince Jordan, 2019

This winter, Prince Jordan died. The storm Liliane took him away. He was Linda’s love...

Srebrenica, From Night to Night, 2015

On July 11 1995, the town of Srebrenica (Bosnia) fell into the hands of the Serbian army. The former spa town became the scene of the worst massacre...

L'Enclave, 2014

FILM l Gojbulja is a small Serbian village landlocked in Kosovo, a predominantly Albanian territory. Here, fear is transmitted from generation to generation...

Nino's Place, 2010

"Fifteen years after the genocide in Srebrenica, a mother's struggle to find her son..."

Nino's Place, 2010

FILM l "Quinze ans après le génocide de Srebrenica, le combat d’une mère pour retrouver son fils…"

Show Reel, 2020

SHOW REEL | This video is a compilation of various commissions, made by photographer Adrien Selbert...

The Real Edges, 2020

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Bosnia in 2020, The Real Edges extends and completes the first photographic work...

Prince Jordan, 2019

This winter, Prince Jordan died. The storm Liliane took him away. He was Linda’s love...

Srebrenica, From Night to Night, 2015

On July 11 1995, the town of Srebrenica (Bosnia) fell into the hands of the Serbian army. The former spa town became the scene of the worst massacre...

L'Enclave, 2014

FILM l Gojbulja is a small Serbian village landlocked in Kosovo, a predominantly Albanian territory. Here, fear is transmitted from generation to generation...

Nino's Place, 2010

"Fifteen years after the genocide in Srebrenica, a mother's struggle to find her son..."

Nino's Place, 2010

FILM l "Quinze ans après le génocide de Srebrenica, le combat d’une mère pour retrouver son fils…"

Show Reel, 2020

SHOW REEL | This video is a compilation of various commissions, made by photographer Adrien Selbert...

The Real Edges, 2020

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Bosnia in 2020, The Real Edges extends and completes the first photographic work...

Prince Jordan, 2019

This winter, Prince Jordan died. The storm Liliane took him away. He was Linda’s love...

Srebrenica, From Night to Night, 2015

On July 11 1995, the town of Srebrenica (Bosnia) fell into the hands of the Serbian army. The former spa town became the scene of the worst massacre...

L'Enclave, 2014

FILM l Gojbulja is a small Serbian village landlocked in Kosovo, a predominantly Albanian territory. Here, fear is transmitted from generation to generation...

Nino's Place, 2010

"Fifteen years after the genocide in Srebrenica, a mother's struggle to find her son..."

Nino's Place, 2010

FILM l "Quinze ans après le génocide de Srebrenica, le combat d’une mère pour retrouver son fils…"

Interviews


Srebrenica, nuit à nuit
Lens Culture

2020

When you are 20 years old, Bosnia is a strange destination. In 2005, it is however in Srebrenica that Adrien Selbert went on a whim. At the time, the young man from Nantes (France) wanted to make a documentary film on youth. “I wanted to see what Bosnia was like ten years after the end of the conflict. Why Srebrenica? Out of curiosity“, he explains. On July 11, 1995, the Muslim enclave of this ancient spa town in Bosnia-Herzegovina fell under the control of the Serbian army, which massacred more than eight thousand men in the space of three days. Adrien still remembers the images of this war on the television news. Images that marked him.

Capture
Galerie Focale

2020

Explanation of a photography present in the series Srebrenica, From Night to Night for the exhibition at the Galerie Focale in Nyon (Switzerland).

Vertigo
RTS Radio

2017

Adrien Selbert exhibits “Srebrenica, nuit à nuit” at the Focale gallery in Nyon until June 11th 2017. A series that has won several awards on lʹaprès-guerre à Srebrenica in Bosnia-Herzegovina and published by Le Bec en lʹair (2016). A graduate of the Beaux-Arts de Nantes and the Arts Décoratifs de Paris, Adrien Selbert is also a director and editor. Adrien Selbert is the guest of Pierre Philippe Cadert.

Le photojournalisme à l’ère de Facebook et d’Instagram
France 3

2016

What place for photojournalism in the era of Facebook and Instagram? On France 3, alongside Olivier Laurent of Time and Jean-François Leroy, director of Visa pour l’Image-Perpignan, Adrien Selbert talks about his series Srebrenica, night after night and the unusual form he uses of GIF, a form resulting from a double-temporality that he links to the political situation in Bosnia: “(the) Bosnian territory is blocked in a post-war temporality that has lasted for 20 years in opposition with a time that repeat itself, the GIF allows these temporalities to cross”.

Le Débat de midi
France Inter

2016

Adrien Selbert was the guest of Thomas Chauvineau in the Midday Debate, alongside Lionel Charrier from Libération, Sam Stourzdé from the Rencontres d’Arles and André Gunthert, a specialist in visual and digital cultures.

ExhIBITIONS


Les Bords réels

Halle aux grains, Saint-Junien (FRANCE)

From October 5 to 15, 2020

Les Bords réels

Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles (FRANCE)

From July 1 to 6, 2019

Srebrenica, nuit à nuit

Galerie FOCALE, Nyon (SWITZERLAND)

From April 23 to June 11 2017

BOOKS


Les Bords Réels

Le Bec en l’air – 2021

Les Bords Réels

Le Bec en l’air – 2021

Les Bords Réels

Le Bec en l’air – 2021

AWARDS


Nouvelles Écritures 2020 Award

For his photographic film: Les Bords Réels

2020

Nouvelles Écritures 2015 Award (Winner and Favorite)

For his series: Srebrenica, From Night to Night

2015

Fisheye Award of the Rencontres d’Arles (Second Price)

For his series: Srebrenica, From Night to Night

2015

Zoom Award (6th edition) at the Salon de la Photo, Paris

For his series: Srebrenica, From Night to Night

2015

Special mention of the Moscow International Foto Awards, category Photo Documentaire

For his series: Srebrenica, From Night to Night

2015

Maison Blanche Award for the Contemporary Photography

For his series: Srebrenica, From Night to Night

2015

Mentor Award #1, Favorite of the professional jury

For his series: Srebrenica, From Night to Night

2015

Étoile of la Scam, edition 2015 of Documentary Film

For “L’Enclave” directed by Aude Léa Rapin and Adrien Selbert

2015

Best Grand Reportage Award at the Festival International des droits humains of Geneva

For the film “Nino’s Place” directed by Aude Léa Rapin and Adrien Selbert

2010