Franck
Ferville

Franck Ferville

biography

French photographer and portraitist, born in 1965, based in Paris (France)Trained as a musician, Franck Ferville quickly turned to photography, shooting portraits of pianists, then going beyond the world of music to photograph personalities from other fields. Represented by Agence VU’ since 1992, he has developed an intense activity as a portrait photographer, commissioned by the press – wether generalist or specialized, daily or monthly – publishers, and companies, for which he puts his technical efficiency and the sensitivity of his gaze at the service.

Realized in a constrained space-time – in imposed, often public, and generally impersonal, places and in a reduced time, depending on the model’s busy agenda – his portraits do not try to reveal the deep personality of the model – an utopia – nor to signify a plastic intention which would have been staged before the shooting. As in music, the improvisation takes place without a score and is built in situ thanks to a great mastery of techniques that has become a reflex, and above all thanks to an attentive availability to the interactions that bind the different elements of the scene: the model, the environment, the light.

In parallel to this activity of portraitist, Franck Ferville also develops, on a personal basis or for the specialized press, series related to travel. Whether they are made in the literal sense on distant territories (India, 1989-2003, Vietnam, 2015, Iceland, 2018) or in the figurative sense within human groups (Gypsies 2002, Pamela’s evenings, 2012, People of my village, 2019), these journeys are not a pretext to draw a portrait of a country or a community: they are above all an opportunity to capture a vital energy, that of the encounting.

Awarded the Ilford Prize in 2000, Franck Ferville’s work is regularly published in the French and international press.

series

Portraits of Personalities, 2019-2021

Selection of French and international personalities’ portraits shot between 2019 and 2021 by Franck Ferville.

The People of my Village / Portraits of New Rural Residents, 2019

Franck Ferville went to meet the inhabitants of his village, to paint a portrait of this new generation increasingly attracted by rural life.

Portraits of Personalities, 2016-2018

Selection of French and international personalities’ portraits shot between 2016 and 2018 by Franck Ferville.

Iceland, 2018

Série | Franck Ferville travelled the roads of southeastern Island to discover a territory with unique landscapes.

Vietnam, 2015

In 2015, Franck Ferville set off to discover Vietnam, stopping in a few cities in the north of the country.

The Night Life of Pamela, 2012

By day, Garbatje is a nurse in Bruge. By night, everywhere else, he's Pamela. Come nighttime, parading her body before an audience...

New York City, 2011

In 2011, Franck Ferville walked the streets of New York City, capturing some iconic images of the city that never sleeps.

One second between 1am and 6am, 2006

This is a portraits series realized during parties in Paris, between 1am and 6am, where I shot every model only once.

Cheerleaders, 2006

Series "Cheerleaders" - 2006

Blankenberge, 2004

Wedged between Knokke-le-Zoute and Ostende, the Blankenberge seaside resort emits a paradoxical poetry.


India, 1989-2003

Passionate about India, Franck Ferville has made several trips to different parts of India since the late 1990s.

Gypsies, 2002

It was precisely when I ran into a convoy of caravans in the Parisian suburbs that I met Mickey, Evangelical pastor and clan chief of this community.

The Moréno Circus, 1997

Franck Ferville went to the Moreno circus to photograph animal shows: tigers, elephants, giraffe, monkey, as well as other animals

Portraits of Personalities, 2019-2021

Selection of French and international personalities’ portraits shot between 2019 and 2021 by Franck Ferville.

The People of my Village / Portraits of New Rural Residents, 2019

Franck Ferville went to meet the inhabitants of his village, to paint a portrait of this new generation increasingly attracted by rural life.

Portraits of Personalities, 2016-2018

Selection of French and international personalities’ portraits shot between 2016 and 2018 by Franck Ferville.

Iceland, 2018

Série | Franck Ferville travelled the roads of southeastern Island to discover a territory with unique landscapes.

Vietnam, 2015

In 2015, Franck Ferville set off to discover Vietnam, stopping in a few cities in the north of the country.

The Night Life of Pamela, 2012

By day, Garbatje is a nurse in Bruge. By night, everywhere else, he's Pamela. Come nighttime, parading her body before an audience...

New York City, 2011

In 2011, Franck Ferville walked the streets of New York City, capturing some iconic images of the city that never sleeps.

One second between 1am and 6am, 2006

This is a portraits series realized during parties in Paris, between 1am and 6am, where I shot every model only once.

Cheerleaders, 2006

Series "Cheerleaders" - 2006

Blankenberge, 2004

Wedged between Knokke-le-Zoute and Ostende, the Blankenberge seaside resort emits a paradoxical poetry.


India, 1989-2003

Passionate about India, Franck Ferville has made several trips to different parts of India since the late 1990s.

Gypsies, 2002

It was precisely when I ran into a convoy of caravans in the Parisian suburbs that I met Mickey, Evangelical pastor and clan chief of this community.

The Moréno Circus, 1997

Franck Ferville went to the Moreno circus to photograph animal shows: tigers, elephants, giraffe, monkey, as well as other animals

Portraits of Personalities, 2019-2021

Selection of French and international personalities’ portraits shot between 2019 and 2021 by Franck Ferville.

The People of my Village / Portraits of New Rural Residents, 2019

Franck Ferville went to meet the inhabitants of his village, to paint a portrait of this new generation increasingly attracted by rural life.

Portraits of Personalities, 2016-2018

Selection of French and international personalities’ portraits shot between 2016 and 2018 by Franck Ferville.

Iceland, 2018

Série | Franck Ferville travelled the roads of southeastern Island to discover a territory with unique landscapes.

Vietnam, 2015

In 2015, Franck Ferville set off to discover Vietnam, stopping in a few cities in the north of the country.

The Night Life of Pamela, 2012

By day, Garbatje is a nurse in Bruge. By night, everywhere else, he's Pamela. Come nighttime, parading her body before an audience...

New York City, 2011

In 2011, Franck Ferville walked the streets of New York City, capturing some iconic images of the city that never sleeps.

One second between 1am and 6am, 2006

This is a portraits series realized during parties in Paris, between 1am and 6am, where I shot every model only once.

Cheerleaders, 2006

Series "Cheerleaders" - 2006

Blankenberge, 2004

Wedged between Knokke-le-Zoute and Ostende, the Blankenberge seaside resort emits a paradoxical poetry.


India, 1989-2003

Passionate about India, Franck Ferville has made several trips to different parts of India since the late 1990s.

Gypsies, 2002

It was precisely when I ran into a convoy of caravans in the Parisian suburbs that I met Mickey, Evangelical pastor and clan chief of this community.

The Moréno Circus, 1997

Franck Ferville went to the Moreno circus to photograph animal shows: tigers, elephants, giraffe, monkey, as well as other animals

InterviewS

#3 – La couleur en photographie
L’Oeil écoute
—
Interview by Hemeria, 2020

“While images are everywhere and mostly shared in social medias, we whish have a discussion with photographers about colour and how they use it in order to think their images” Hemeria

Listen

AWARDS

Ilford Jury Prize

For the photography “Toilette de l’éléphant, Maduraï, 1999”.

2000