Véronique Besnard studied history and politics (Grenoble Institute for Political Studies) and graduated with an MA in Photography from the University of Brighton (2007).
Her first work is dedicated to refugees and asylum seekers living in Brighton. The photographs illustrate the permanent transition in which people live, once they have arrived in the UK. The series Kings Road was short-listed by the Royal Photographic Society, The Guardian and the HSBC Foundation (France).
In 2012 she self-published a photographic work titled Additional Satellite. This project is inspired by mix feelings regarding her homeland. The book merges two narrations, one intimate and one collective. Images of friends and relatives are mixed with urban and natural landscapes. The book refers to a personal story, but also to the divisions within French society and its nostalgia for an idealized past.
Her following work, The Wall, takes place in the French Alps. Organized in three chapters, The Arena, the Omen, The Garden, this work takes us from a world that was once remote and spiritual, to a modern and accessible environment. The Wall was shortlisted by Mack editions (First Book Award, 2018).
Exhibitions
2021 The Wall, Investeam, Paris, Fr.
2017 Artist in Residency, la Fototeca, Guatemala City, Guatemala
2016 A New Nothing, Osnova Gallery, Moscow, Russia
2015 10 Visions of Paris, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
2015 Tidewalk, Jersey Arts Centre, Ang.
2014 Senza meta. Il libro come pensiero fotografico
(Without a destination. The book as a photographic thought), Fotografia Europea, Reggio Emilia, It.
2013 Additional Satellite, signature et lancement, galerie LE BAL, Paris, Fr.
2012 Sea of Promise, The History of Now, Festival F-Stop, Leipzig, All.
2012 Lockung, collaboration avec le quartet Phantasie, Paris, Fr.
2011 Le Garage, seconde édition. Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, Fr.
2011 Bookmakers, LE BAL Paris, Fr.
2010 Bookmakers, galerie Le Château d’Eau, Toulouse, Fr.
2010 Le Garage, première édition. Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, Fr.
2009 Kings Road, festival de photographie de Lleida, Lleida, Esp.
2008 Battlefield, Brighton Photo Fringe Festival, Brighton Media Centre, Brighton, Ang.
2008 Kings Road, festival MarsAttac, le Sémaphore, Nîmes, Fr.
2007 Light Motives, Sassoon gallery, Londres, Ang.
2007 MA final show, University of Brighton, Brighton, Ang.
2006 CROP, Brighton Photo Fringe Festival, Sussex Arts Club, Brighton, Ang.
2004 Sourires de nuit, Cambodge, squatt des 400 couverts, Grenoble, Fr.
2003 Sourires de nuit, Cambodge, Espace K, Grenoble, Fr.
1999 Giono, Espace les Eaux Claire, Grenoble, Fr.
Books
Besnard Véronique, Additional Satellite, self-published, Paris, 2012.
Besnard Véronique, Kings Road, artist book, 2008.
Besnard Véronique, La Mise en Images du conflit afghan, usage de la photographie
dans la presse française et américaine, L’Harmattan : 2005, Paris.
Selections / Prizes
2018 First Book Award, MACK editions, shortlist, Ang.
2010 Descubrimientos, PhotoEspana, selection, Madrid, Esp.
2008 Prix de la Fondation HSBC pour la photographie, shortlist, Paris, Fr.
2007 Joan Wakelin Bursary, Royal Photographic Society et journal The Guardian, shortlist, Londres, Ang.
Publications
What does the future of photography looks like ? Owen Gwynne Vince, Anothermagazine.com, Londres, 2018.
Camera Austria # 143, Graz, septembre 2018.
Photobooks, Sebastian Hau, foam magazine # 34 dummy, printemps 2013, PB.
The History of Now, catalogue d’exposition, F-Stop, Lubok Verlag, Leipzig, 2012.
Education
2007 MA Photography, Brighton University, Ang.
2004 Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Grenoble, Fr.