Mathieu Asselin (born 25 June 1973) is a French-Venezuelan photographer artist specializing in documentary photography and portraiture related to social issues. He is based in New York City.
In 2017 his book Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation, "a powerful indictment of corporate power and ecological irresponsibility", won the Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation First PhotoBook Award and was a finalist for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize.
Life and work Asselin began his career working on film productions in Caracas, Venezuela and then as a photographer in Europe. He currently works as a photographer in New York City.
In 2011 Asselin photographed Occupy Wall Street protestors in Zuccotti Park, using a small open-air studio. The same year he made portraits of people who had lived through the 2011 Joplin tornado in Joplin, Missouri.
In 2014, he was Artist in Residence with Imagine Science Films.
For his book Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation, Asselin spent five years photographing the damaged landscape around Anniston, Alabama, caused by a Monsanto chemical factory. Sean O'Hagan, writing in The Guardian, described it as "a powerful indictment of corporate power and ecological irresponsibility", "a book about corporate impunity that unfolds through the deft interweaving of Asselin’s own images and a wealth of found material, from personal testimonies to courtroom files." O'hagan included it in his "best photography books of 2017".
Publications
Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation. With the contribution of Ricardo Baez (designer) and Frédérique Wallis Davy (writer). Dortmund, Germany: Kettler, 2017. . English edition. Monsanto: une Enquête Photographique. Arles, France: Actes Sud, 2017. . French edition.
Exhibitions Solo exhibitions 2012: Portrait of a Tornado Path, See Gallery, New York 2013: Portraits of Tornado Path, Indie Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel 2016: The Ninety-Nine Percent, Breda Photo Festival. Breda, Holland 2017: Monsanto, une enquête photographique, Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France 2017: Monsanto, une enquête photographique, Hangar J1, Marseille, France 2019: Stock Market, National Centre for Photography during Ballarat International Foto Biennale
Group exhibitions Plat(t)form, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland, 2014
Awards 2017: Finalist, Deutsche Börse Photography Prize for Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation 2017: Winner, First PhotoBook award, Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards
References
External links Photographs from Monsanto at Dazed