Samuel
Bollendorff

Samuel Bollendorff

BIOGRAPHY

French photographer and director, distributed by Agence VU’, based in Paris (France).

Born in 1974, Samuel Bollendorff studied at the Louis Lumière school and then sharpened his sense of observation and his reflection on the form of his work at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.  He then began working as a freelance press photographer and collaborated with the daily newspaper Libération for 5 years.

Samuel Bollendorff thus developed his documentary photography style, and offered a social view of French institutions – hospitals, schools, police, prisons – their missions and their difficulties by questioning the place of individuals in public services over time. He also extended the territory of his investigations beyond national borders and the formal boundaries of photojournalism, notably with “SilenceSida” – a project of photographic portraits dealing with the inequality of access to treatment and the social consequences of this scourge in Malawi, Uganda, Russia and Brazil – as well as with “À marche forcée”, a series on the forgotten people of the Chinese economic miracle, where photographs and testimonies are inseparable.

It is by pursuing this questioning of photography as a tool for political reflection that Samuel Bollendorff contemplates new forms of narration. Combining photography and testimonies – textual, audio or video – his work is enriched by the innovations of documentary narration and interactive enunciation techniques to give, beyond factuality, something to think about rather than something to merely see. In 2002, he directed his first documentary, “Ils venaient d’avoir 80 ans”, a 52-minute film that chronicles a year of life in the heart of a geriatric ward.

In 2004, his photo and video work on the suburb cities of Grigny II and Grande Borne led to the first mixed exhibition at the Visa pour l’image photojournalism festival.  At the end of 2008, Samuel Bollendorff made his first interactive web documentary “Voyage au bout du charbon”, published on Le monde.fr and he then got awarded the SCAM Prize for Interactive Digital Art.

While Samuel Bollendorff is committed to renewing visual forms, he is also committed to documenting in-depth subjects whose existence suffers from public invisibility. Whether it is about immolations in France (“Le Grand Incendie”), violence against refugees (“La Nuit tombe sur l’Europe”), “Les morts de la rue” (eponymous series) or about the “invisible” but very present environmental pollution throughout the world (“Contaminations: Après moi le Déluge”), the same concern: “How can we give an account? There is no need to show violence (…) to receive its shockwave. On the contrary. The calm and emptiness of the place nourish everyone’s imagination. The orchestration of denial is a figure of horror”.

Samuel Bollendorff is the author of 6 monographs, 6 video documentaries and 7 interactive documentaries. His work is regularly published and exhibited in France and internationally and has been awarded prestigious prizes including among other, the Hachette Foundation’s Special Prize, the SCAM Prize for Interactive Digital Art, the Europa Online Prize in Berlin, the Visa d’Or for web documentaries.

SERIES

Border workers, pendular lives, 2022

Series | The social crisis linked to the end of the steel industry has left Lorraine economically drained region whose workers have had no choice but to turn to neighboring Luxembourg. An immersion in in this region, to draw up the outlines of a typology of border workers.

The Europe of plastics, 2019

Serie | It is estimated that 8 million tons of plastic are rejected into the oceans every year. Or, the equivalent of one dump truck per minute. Europe is the second most polluter of the world.

Contaminations, 2018

Série | « Contaminations » proposes a reflection on irremediable industrials pollutions, transforming for decades, even centuries, territories into areas unsuitable for the development of life.

The dead of the street, 2016

Serie | Officially, more than 500 persons died in the street in 2016. They will be approximatively 3 000 according to the association “ Les Morts de la rue“. In the street, life expectancy is around 49 years old, thirty years earlier than the french average.

Night Falls on Europe, 2016

Serie | In January 2016, in northern Greece, the borders closed, leaving 46,000 children, women and men, traumatized by war and exile, blockaded in Idomeni, in the middle of winter.

Burn Out, 2014

Série | In France, between 2011 and 2013, one person set itself on fire every two weeks on the public square. Immolation by fire in another country appears as an ultimate act of protest but in France these acts are treated as anecdotic news.

Chinese jeans, 2011

Serie | 800 millions of jeans per year, twice of the legs, four time more of the pockets and even more passengers in whom we will slip a belt… In Xintang, 50 kilometers from Canton in China, these numbers are calculated in sweat, in hours of work, in toxic waste rejected into the rivers, in decibels.

Safe from nothing, 2011

Serie | 3,6 million of people in France are living in situation of acute poor housing. 10 million of them can tipped at any time. More than 5 000 children are affected by lead poisoning.

The forced marched, the forgotten of the chinese growth, 2008

Serie | The race to the growth that China got engaged into and which leads its back on the international scene is uncompromising.

Tokyo, 2006

Serie | Samuel Bollendorff proposes us in this book an essay on color based on the courses that Kandinsky gave at the Bauhaus.

Journey to the end of coal, 2006

Serie | From Daton to Linfen, passing by Taiyuan or even Sancakou, Samuel Bollendorff traveled across the China of coal, to meet the miners, the impacted population by the government lust of power and, the devastated and polluted landscapes by the intense mining activity.

Hospital Silence, 1998-2004

Serie | Maternity ward, Psychiatry, Emergencies, Geriatrics, from 1998 to 2004 Samuel Bollendorff’s work focused on the public hospital system in France, questioning the place of the individual in a clinical environment.

AIDS Silence, 2001

Serie | The series « AIDS Silence » is dedicated to the problem of inequality in access to treatments and to the consequences of a fearsome scourge. While maintaining a connection with public health issues, Samuel Bollendorff proposes a personal photographic writing on the disease.

Border workers, pendular lives, 2022

Series | The social crisis linked to the end of the steel industry has left Lorraine economically drained region whose workers have had no choice but to turn to neighboring Luxembourg. An immersion in in this region, to draw up the outlines of a typology of border workers.

The Europe of plastics, 2019

Serie | It is estimated that 8 million tons of plastic are rejected into the oceans every year. Or, the equivalent of one dump truck per minute. Europe is the second most polluter of the world.

Contaminations, 2018

Série | « Contaminations » proposes a reflection on irremediable industrials pollutions, transforming for decades, even centuries, territories into areas unsuitable for the development of life.

The dead of the street, 2016

Serie | Officially, more than 500 persons died in the street in 2016. They will be approximatively 3 000 according to the association “ Les Morts de la rue“. In the street, life expectancy is around 49 years old, thirty years earlier than the french average.

Night Falls on Europe, 2016

Serie | In January 2016, in northern Greece, the borders closed, leaving 46,000 children, women and men, traumatized by war and exile, blockaded in Idomeni, in the middle of winter.

Burn Out, 2014

Série | In France, between 2011 and 2013, one person set itself on fire every two weeks on the public square. Immolation by fire in another country appears as an ultimate act of protest but in France these acts are treated as anecdotic news.

Chinese jeans, 2011

Serie | 800 millions of jeans per year, twice of the legs, four time more of the pockets and even more passengers in whom we will slip a belt… In Xintang, 50 kilometers from Canton in China, these numbers are calculated in sweat, in hours of work, in toxic waste rejected into the rivers, in decibels.

Safe from nothing, 2011

Serie | 3,6 million of people in France are living in situation of acute poor housing. 10 million of them can tipped at any time. More than 5 000 children are affected by lead poisoning.

The forced marched, the forgotten of the chinese growth, 2008

Serie | The race to the growth that China got engaged into and which leads its back on the international scene is uncompromising.

Tokyo, 2006

Serie | Samuel Bollendorff proposes us in this book an essay on color based on the courses that Kandinsky gave at the Bauhaus.

Journey to the end of coal, 2006

Serie | From Daton to Linfen, passing by Taiyuan or even Sancakou, Samuel Bollendorff traveled across the China of coal, to meet the miners, the impacted population by the government lust of power and, the devastated and polluted landscapes by the intense mining activity.

Hospital Silence, 1998-2004

Serie | Maternity ward, Psychiatry, Emergencies, Geriatrics, from 1998 to 2004 Samuel Bollendorff’s work focused on the public hospital system in France, questioning the place of the individual in a clinical environment.

AIDS Silence, 2001

Serie | The series « AIDS Silence » is dedicated to the problem of inequality in access to treatments and to the consequences of a fearsome scourge. While maintaining a connection with public health issues, Samuel Bollendorff proposes a personal photographic writing on the disease.

Border workers, pendular lives, 2022

Series | The social crisis linked to the end of the steel industry has left Lorraine economically drained region whose workers have had no choice but to turn to neighboring Luxembourg. An immersion in in this region, to draw up the outlines of a typology of border workers.

The Europe of plastics, 2019

Serie | It is estimated that 8 million tons of plastic are rejected into the oceans every year. Or, the equivalent of one dump truck per minute. Europe is the second most polluter of the world.

Contaminations, 2018

Série | « Contaminations » proposes a reflection on irremediable industrials pollutions, transforming for decades, even centuries, territories into areas unsuitable for the development of life.

The dead of the street, 2016

Serie | Officially, more than 500 persons died in the street in 2016. They will be approximatively 3 000 according to the association “ Les Morts de la rue“. In the street, life expectancy is around 49 years old, thirty years earlier than the french average.

Night Falls on Europe, 2016

Serie | In January 2016, in northern Greece, the borders closed, leaving 46,000 children, women and men, traumatized by war and exile, blockaded in Idomeni, in the middle of winter.

Burn Out, 2014

Série | In France, between 2011 and 2013, one person set itself on fire every two weeks on the public square. Immolation by fire in another country appears as an ultimate act of protest but in France these acts are treated as anecdotic news.

Chinese jeans, 2011

Serie | 800 millions of jeans per year, twice of the legs, four time more of the pockets and even more passengers in whom we will slip a belt… In Xintang, 50 kilometers from Canton in China, these numbers are calculated in sweat, in hours of work, in toxic waste rejected into the rivers, in decibels.

Safe from nothing, 2011

Serie | 3,6 million of people in France are living in situation of acute poor housing. 10 million of them can tipped at any time. More than 5 000 children are affected by lead poisoning.

The forced marched, the forgotten of the chinese growth, 2008

Serie | The race to the growth that China got engaged into and which leads its back on the international scene is uncompromising.

Tokyo, 2006

Serie | Samuel Bollendorff proposes us in this book an essay on color based on the courses that Kandinsky gave at the Bauhaus.

Journey to the end of coal, 2006

Serie | From Daton to Linfen, passing by Taiyuan or even Sancakou, Samuel Bollendorff traveled across the China of coal, to meet the miners, the impacted population by the government lust of power and, the devastated and polluted landscapes by the intense mining activity.

Hospital Silence, 1998-2004

Serie | Maternity ward, Psychiatry, Emergencies, Geriatrics, from 1998 to 2004 Samuel Bollendorff’s work focused on the public hospital system in France, questioning the place of the individual in a clinical environment.

AIDS Silence, 2001

Serie | The series « AIDS Silence » is dedicated to the problem of inequality in access to treatments and to the consequences of a fearsome scourge. While maintaining a connection with public health issues, Samuel Bollendorff proposes a personal photographic writing on the disease.

MULTIMEDIA

Parade, 2019

Multimedia Product | This web-series proposes the story of Cloclo n°18, majorette, of Jonathan, a tuning adept, of Freddy, a breeder of cocks fighting, and of Gros Bleu, a carrier pigeon.

Posted workers, 2019

Multimedia Product | Toni, Nebojsa, George and Andrea come from Croatia, Serbia or Romania. Posted workers on St Nazaire shipyards, they live there, invisible.

The night falls on Europe, 2016

Multimedia Product | “Night falls on Europe“ offers a different perspective on these journeys of women, men and children forced to flee the violence of conflict or persecution.

Burn Out, 2013

Multimedia | “Burn out”, the new web-documentary directed by Samuel Bollendorff and Olivia Colo, deals with the ultimate act of protestation that is immolation.

Crisis Reporter, 2011

Multimedia Product | This web-documentary proposes a behind closed-doors in the heart of the European Parliament. From Brussels to Strasbourg, from parliamentary committees to plenary sessions, you will follow the European deputy Pervenche Berès, rapporteur of the Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis.

Safe from nothing, a web-documentary on the poor housing in France, 2011

Multimedia Product | Samuel Bollendorff and Mehdi Ahoudig carried out an investigation for the Abbe Pierre Foundation by ensuring a sober journalistic work, devoid of preconceived ideas, respectful of these women and men who accepted to testify, in the dignity of their daily suffer.

Is obesity a fatality?, 2009

Multimedia Product | In a world where we are putting on weight, too much, much too quickly, “The big issue” wishes to explain without any Manichaeism, the origins of this real plague of modern societies.

Journey to the end of coal, 2008

Multimedia Product | Journey to the end of coal” is the pilot for a series of documentary instalments exploring the potential of new media. This format offers a complete photographic work on Chinese coal mines, enriched by sound recordings and videos taken on the spot.

Parade, 2019

Multimedia Product | This web-series proposes the story of Cloclo n°18, majorette, of Jonathan, a tuning adept, of Freddy, a breeder of cocks fighting, and of Gros Bleu, a carrier pigeon.

Posted workers, 2019

Multimedia Product | Toni, Nebojsa, George and Andrea come from Croatia, Serbia or Romania. Posted workers on St Nazaire shipyards, they live there, invisible.

The night falls on Europe, 2016

Multimedia Product | “Night falls on Europe“ offers a different perspective on these journeys of women, men and children forced to flee the violence of conflict or persecution.

Burn Out, 2013

Multimedia | “Burn out”, the new web-documentary directed by Samuel Bollendorff and Olivia Colo, deals with the ultimate act of protestation that is immolation.

Crisis Reporter, 2011

Multimedia Product | This web-documentary proposes a behind closed-doors in the heart of the European Parliament. From Brussels to Strasbourg, from parliamentary committees to plenary sessions, you will follow the European deputy Pervenche Berès, rapporteur of the Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis.

Safe from nothing, a web-documentary on the poor housing in France, 2011

Multimedia Product | Samuel Bollendorff and Mehdi Ahoudig carried out an investigation for the Abbe Pierre Foundation by ensuring a sober journalistic work, devoid of preconceived ideas, respectful of these women and men who accepted to testify, in the dignity of their daily suffer.

Is obesity a fatality?, 2009

Multimedia Product | In a world where we are putting on weight, too much, much too quickly, “The big issue” wishes to explain without any Manichaeism, the origins of this real plague of modern societies.

Journey to the end of coal, 2008

Multimedia Product | Journey to the end of coal” is the pilot for a series of documentary instalments exploring the potential of new media. This format offers a complete photographic work on Chinese coal mines, enriched by sound recordings and videos taken on the spot.

Parade, 2019

Multimedia Product | This web-series proposes the story of Cloclo n°18, majorette, of Jonathan, a tuning adept, of Freddy, a breeder of cocks fighting, and of Gros Bleu, a carrier pigeon.

Posted workers, 2019

Multimedia Product | Toni, Nebojsa, George and Andrea come from Croatia, Serbia or Romania. Posted workers on St Nazaire shipyards, they live there, invisible.

The night falls on Europe, 2016

Multimedia Product | “Night falls on Europe“ offers a different perspective on these journeys of women, men and children forced to flee the violence of conflict or persecution.

Burn Out, 2013

Multimedia | “Burn out”, the new web-documentary directed by Samuel Bollendorff and Olivia Colo, deals with the ultimate act of protestation that is immolation.

Crisis Reporter, 2011

Multimedia Product | This web-documentary proposes a behind closed-doors in the heart of the European Parliament. From Brussels to Strasbourg, from parliamentary committees to plenary sessions, you will follow the European deputy Pervenche Berès, rapporteur of the Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis.

Safe from nothing, a web-documentary on the poor housing in France, 2011

Multimedia Product | Samuel Bollendorff and Mehdi Ahoudig carried out an investigation for the Abbe Pierre Foundation by ensuring a sober journalistic work, devoid of preconceived ideas, respectful of these women and men who accepted to testify, in the dignity of their daily suffer.

Is obesity a fatality?, 2009

Multimedia Product | In a world where we are putting on weight, too much, much too quickly, “The big issue” wishes to explain without any Manichaeism, the origins of this real plague of modern societies.

Journey to the end of coal, 2008

Multimedia Product | Journey to the end of coal” is the pilot for a series of documentary instalments exploring the potential of new media. This format offers a complete photographic work on Chinese coal mines, enriched by sound recordings and videos taken on the spot.

Interviews

2010-2020 : une décennie de photo vue par Samuel Bollendorf
Télérama
—
Interview réalisée par Luc Desbenoit et Victor Depois, 2019

Une décennie s’achève et “Télérama” demande à celles et ceux qui ont fait les années 2010-2020 de regarder dans le rétro et de nous proposer un bilan, chaque jour jusqu’à la fin de l’année. En Arts, Musique, Cinéma, Littérature… Que retiendra-t-on de ces dix ans qui viennent de s’écouler?

Vous m’en direz des nouvelles !
RFI
—
Interview réalisée par Jean-François Cadet, 2019

Contaminations nous emmène en mots et en images dans une ville toxique en Alabama, sur les rives d’un fleuve mort au Brésil, sur un continent plastique dans le Pacifique Nord, au cœur du Triangle des Tumeurs en Italie ou du Trou Noir en Russie : 7 lieux malmenés par l’activité humaine et industrielle hostile à accueillir la vie.

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Regardez voir
France Inter
—
Interview réalisée par Brigitte Patient, 2019

Samuel Bollendorff est photographe et réalisateur. Il a aussi réalisé plusieurs web-documentaire. Polyvalent, il s’attaque à des sujets de société, qui nous concernent tous : de la dégradation des services publics en France à la dégradation de l’environnement planétaire, en passant par l’exil des populations.

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Par les temps qui courent
France Culture
—
Interview réalisée par Marie Richeux, 2019

Le photographe expose sa série de photographies et de textes rassemblés sous le titre CONTAMINATIONS à l’occasion du Festival “Visa pour l’image”, à Perpignan du 1er au 16 septembre.

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EXHIBITIONS

Frontaliers, des vies en stéréo
—
Massenoire, Esch-sur-Alze
—
October 22, 2022 – February 05, 2023

More informations

L’éphémère 
—
Jardin éphémère, 54000, Nancy (FRANCE)
—
From September 25 to November 1st, 2021

More informations

BOOKS

Faiseur d'anges

Éditions du Seuil - 2021

Contaminations

EPA Éditions - 2019

Burn Out

Éditions Textuel - 2015

Tokyo

Democratic Books - 2010

Faiseur d'anges

Éditions du Seuil - 2021

Contaminations

EPA Éditions - 2019

Burn Out

Éditions Textuel - 2015

Tokyo

Democratic Books - 2010

Faiseur d'anges

Éditions du Seuil - 2021

Contaminations

EPA Éditions - 2019

Burn Out

Éditions Textuel - 2015

Tokyo

Democratic Books - 2010

AWARDS

Mention spéciale à l’œuvre audiovisuelle de l’année, SCAM

Pour son travail « Parade ».

2018

Lauréat du Visa d’Or du web-documentaire, VISA pour l’Image.

Pour son travail « Le Grand incendie ».

2014

Lauréat du Prix Europa

Pour son travail « À l’abri de rien » sur les mal-logés en France.

2011

Mention Spéciale pour le Prix de l’Innovation, Sheffield Doc/Fest

Pour son web-documentaire « L’obésité est-elle une fatalité ? »

2009

Lauréat du Prix SCAM de l’œuvre d’art interactive

Pour son web-documentaire « Voyage au bout du charbon »

2009

Mention Spéciale du Prix Europa pour les médias émergents

Pour son web-documentaire « L’obésité est-elle une fatalité ? »

2009