Laurent Elie Badessi

Born in Avignon, France in 1964, Laurent Elie Badessi grew up with a camera in hand. He is the fourth generation of photographers in his family, studying at the Universite de Paris VIII, and earning an M.A. in photography while graduating with honors. Badessi embarked on his career in Paris and then later abroad -- moving to New York in the early 1990’s. He is internationally famous for his rich artistic style.

Badessi’s focus as a graduate student, which he expanded into a widely-exhibited project, was the impact of Western fashion and photographic technology on isolated tribes in Africa. Travelling to remote regions of Niger, Badessi photographed natives for the very first time in their lives; offering them the chance to pose in a selection of designer clothes, intermixed with their own accessories such as jewelry and weapons.

Ethnik became a study of universal elegance, style and self-image, earning him first prize for the prominent Fuji Color, VSD, France-Inter Grant. Badessi also spent more than a decade exploring the harmonic links between man and nature, resulting in his much celebrated book, Skin, which has been the subject of multiple exhibitions. The photographer placed nudes in exotic landscapes and then captured the melding contrasts of shapes and textures; paying tribute to Walt Whitman’s philosophy … "If anything is sacred, the human body is sacred."

Badessi was selected to be photographer for the Charles Jourdan luxury shoe brand in 2004. He was given "carte blanche” to create a highly artistic campaign, following in the tradition of the legendary, Guy Bourdin. Badessi drew inspiration from Greco/Roman mythology, as well as Surrealism, infusing both with an aura of female sexuality, empowerment and confidence. He shot in dramatic locations, such as the Californian desert of El Mirage, and his models (who often wore only masks and expensive shoes) were posed as classical figures: Diana the Huntress, Ganymede, and Echo. These memorable visions are now part of the permanent collection of Le Musee des Arts Decoratifs – Musee de la Publicite in Paris (Louvre).

Badessi’s photographs have appeared in numerous art and photography magazines and are included in notable public and private collections. He has received many prestigious awards, including a grant from the French Ministry of Culture for his show, Metamorphoses, held in 1996 at L’espace VEGA in Paris. Solo exhibitions of his work have taken place in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami, London, Milan, Rome, Paris, Nice, Barcelona, Monaco and Dubai.

Badessi lives and works in New York.