Christophe
Goussard

Christophe Goussard

biography

Christophe Goussard was born in 1970 in Blaye, he lives in Bordeaux.

Trained in photography through reportage and a documentary approach to the image, Christophe Goussard has developed his eye for the worlds he has crossed, worlds close, on the bangs or far away. As a photographer-author, he lends his gaze to spaces rich in human experience. Encounter is fundamental to his work. The enrichment through exchanges and proximity with the peoples, workers and inhabitants of the territories in which he immerses himself are a cement in his photography. Just like the importance of sensation. To feel a place, a story, a river or a path. To feel that something is happening, that there is a photographic story to be written about others and in these places.

His projects often develop through a stay. Thus, residency, whether personal – as in 1994 when he spent six months in Mongolia – or institutional, as in Damascus with the French Cultural Center (Les autres, balade araméenne, 2009), allows for a long period of time essential to his creation. Even if the human being is always a watermark in his images, it is not always the central subject. Begun with the project L’adieu au fleuve (2015), this approach to landscape and living beings in hollow takes on greater scope in the project Entre fleuve et rivière. Christophe Goussard chose color and favors nature, with an absolutely human approach to these lands nourished by stories.
His work is represented by the agency VU’ (Paris) and has been the subject of numerous books, mainly published by Filigranes.

Series

RN89 East-West, 2022

Series | The series "RN89 East-West" gathers a selection of photos taken by Christophe Goussard during his residency in the Massif Central in 2021-2022, like a travel diary of his journey on the mythical road.

Entre Fleuve et Rivière, 2018

Motivated by a deep attention for the sensitive history of landscapes as well as for the human, social or mythological stories that nourish them, photographers Christophe Goussard and Charles-Frédérick Ouellet have chosen to carry out their investigations around the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec and the Adour River in the Basque Country.

The days after, 2013

The days after, portraits of migrants in Cenon, portrays the lives of a dozen people who agreed to tell their story, that of an immigration sometimes chosen, most of the time suffered, that Christophe Goussard photographed in their intimacy, in places they love.

The farewell to the river, 2013

The farewell to the river is an intimate tale of a double bicycle trip around the Gironde estuary. From Royan to Bordeaux, while the author Christophe Dabitch rode and gleaned stories on the Medoc side, I rode and photographed the other bank, on the Blayais side, each on his familiar land and as close as possible to the river.

Morocco, Shemz’y circus school, 2012

We are by the seaside, in a poor district of Salé, in the suburb of Rabah. There is an old fort, eaten away by the years. In front : a circus tent. And inside the tent, a large warehouse, some offices and a canteen… This is where the Moroccan National Circus School is established, far away from the city center.

The others (Aramean strolls), Syria, 2009

The story is set between 2003 and 2007, just before the massive spread of a devastating war. The inhabitants of Maaloula, a small village north of Damascus, Christians - in the majority - and Muslims, are among the last speakers of the language supposed to be the one of Christ.

Gardens of Cocagne (plenty), France, 2008

“Jardins de Cocagne” are organic market gardens which employ people confronted to social and professional exclusion situations.

The clinic Esquirol, Saint-Hilaire, 2007

In the often very impersonal universe of clinics, Christophe Goussard is tracking down those little gestures that are the link between two human beings. To the technicality and the growing place of the machine, the photographer is opposing the human work in the hospital environment.

Noir Désir, 2001

When they were recording their latest album, “Des Visages, Des Figures”, and then on the following tour, Christophe Goussard has photographed French rock band Noir Désir.

RN89 East-West, 2022

Series | The series "RN89 East-West" gathers a selection of photos taken by Christophe Goussard during his residency in the Massif Central in 2021-2022, like a travel diary of his journey on the mythical road.

Entre Fleuve et Rivière, 2018

Motivated by a deep attention for the sensitive history of landscapes as well as for the human, social or mythological stories that nourish them, photographers Christophe Goussard and Charles-Frédérick Ouellet have chosen to carry out their investigations around the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec and the Adour River in the Basque Country.

The days after, 2013

The days after, portraits of migrants in Cenon, portrays the lives of a dozen people who agreed to tell their story, that of an immigration sometimes chosen, most of the time suffered, that Christophe Goussard photographed in their intimacy, in places they love.

The farewell to the river, 2013

The farewell to the river is an intimate tale of a double bicycle trip around the Gironde estuary. From Royan to Bordeaux, while the author Christophe Dabitch rode and gleaned stories on the Medoc side, I rode and photographed the other bank, on the Blayais side, each on his familiar land and as close as possible to the river.

Morocco, Shemz’y circus school, 2012

We are by the seaside, in a poor district of Salé, in the suburb of Rabah. There is an old fort, eaten away by the years. In front : a circus tent. And inside the tent, a large warehouse, some offices and a canteen… This is where the Moroccan National Circus School is established, far away from the city center.

The others (Aramean strolls), Syria, 2009

The story is set between 2003 and 2007, just before the massive spread of a devastating war. The inhabitants of Maaloula, a small village north of Damascus, Christians - in the majority - and Muslims, are among the last speakers of the language supposed to be the one of Christ.

Gardens of Cocagne (plenty), France, 2008

“Jardins de Cocagne” are organic market gardens which employ people confronted to social and professional exclusion situations.

The clinic Esquirol, Saint-Hilaire, 2007

In the often very impersonal universe of clinics, Christophe Goussard is tracking down those little gestures that are the link between two human beings. To the technicality and the growing place of the machine, the photographer is opposing the human work in the hospital environment.

Noir Désir, 2001

When they were recording their latest album, “Des Visages, Des Figures”, and then on the following tour, Christophe Goussard has photographed French rock band Noir Désir.

RN89 East-West, 2022

Series | The series "RN89 East-West" gathers a selection of photos taken by Christophe Goussard during his residency in the Massif Central in 2021-2022, like a travel diary of his journey on the mythical road.

Entre Fleuve et Rivière, 2018

Motivated by a deep attention for the sensitive history of landscapes as well as for the human, social or mythological stories that nourish them, photographers Christophe Goussard and Charles-Frédérick Ouellet have chosen to carry out their investigations around the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec and the Adour River in the Basque Country.

The days after, 2013

The days after, portraits of migrants in Cenon, portrays the lives of a dozen people who agreed to tell their story, that of an immigration sometimes chosen, most of the time suffered, that Christophe Goussard photographed in their intimacy, in places they love.

The farewell to the river, 2013

The farewell to the river is an intimate tale of a double bicycle trip around the Gironde estuary. From Royan to Bordeaux, while the author Christophe Dabitch rode and gleaned stories on the Medoc side, I rode and photographed the other bank, on the Blayais side, each on his familiar land and as close as possible to the river.

Morocco, Shemz’y circus school, 2012

We are by the seaside, in a poor district of Salé, in the suburb of Rabah. There is an old fort, eaten away by the years. In front : a circus tent. And inside the tent, a large warehouse, some offices and a canteen… This is where the Moroccan National Circus School is established, far away from the city center.

The others (Aramean strolls), Syria, 2009

The story is set between 2003 and 2007, just before the massive spread of a devastating war. The inhabitants of Maaloula, a small village north of Damascus, Christians - in the majority - and Muslims, are among the last speakers of the language supposed to be the one of Christ.

Gardens of Cocagne (plenty), France, 2008

“Jardins de Cocagne” are organic market gardens which employ people confronted to social and professional exclusion situations.

The clinic Esquirol, Saint-Hilaire, 2007

In the often very impersonal universe of clinics, Christophe Goussard is tracking down those little gestures that are the link between two human beings. To the technicality and the growing place of the machine, the photographer is opposing the human work in the hospital environment.

Noir Désir, 2001

When they were recording their latest album, “Des Visages, Des Figures”, and then on the following tour, Christophe Goussard has photographed French rock band Noir Désir.

Interviews

Inédit
Arrêt sur l’Image galerie
—
2019

Interview with Christophe Goussard on his project “ Alexandrie” shown at the Arret sur l’Image Gallery at Bordeaux in January 2019.

Les Autres
Filigranes
—
2019

This book is set in a small village in Syria, north of Damascus. The inhabitants of Maaloula, mostly Christians and Muslims, are among the last speakers of the language supposed to be the language of Christ. They call themselves Aramaic. In this narrative where photography and text are equal parts, the two authors start from a documentary approach and an attempt to describe a complex reality, during two journeys, to finish with a fictional narrative. Written on the spot, this third stage of the journey gave rise to a reinterpretation of the reality they had experienced, the photography, in color this time, going to the village over the course of the days to look for images that would be the “proof” of the imaginary story.

EXHIBITIONS

Entre fleuve et rivière

Entre fleuve et rivière
—
L’été photographique, Lectoure (FRANCE)
—
From July 10 to September 19, 2021

More information

books

La 89 est-ouest

Filigranes Éditions - 2022

Between two rivers

Filigranes - 2019

Farewell to the river

Filigranes Éditions - 2015

The Days After

Filigranes Éditions - 2014

Les autres, balade araméenne

Filigranes Éditions - 2009

La 89 est-ouest

Filigranes Éditions - 2022

Between two rivers

Filigranes - 2019

Farewell to the river

Filigranes Éditions - 2015

The Days After

Filigranes Éditions - 2014

Les autres, balade araméenne

Filigranes Éditions - 2009

La 89 est-ouest

Filigranes Éditions - 2022

Between two rivers

Filigranes - 2019

Farewell to the river

Filigranes Éditions - 2015

The Days After

Filigranes Éditions - 2014

Les autres, balade araméenne

Filigranes Éditions - 2009