Olivier Föllmi
Biography
Olivier Föllmi is a French and Swiss photographer, traveller and humanist, born in 1958 in Haute-Savoie. He went to Afghanistan for the first time when he was seventeen, and has not stopped travelling the world since then. He seeks to capture the beauty of humanity and its values. Far from the bloody reports conveyed by the press, he shows us the human and peaceful side of mankind. The photographer inspires us with the beauty of his shots, but also with the way he approaches people, life and the world.
He became internationally acknowledged in 1989 with his report on the Frozen River of Zanskar, Himalaya, awarded by the World Press Photo. In 2005, he was nominated one of the fifteen most important international photographers by the American magazine The Times Journal of Photography.
Between 2003 and 2010, Olivier Föllmi and his wife Danielle committed themselves to the project “Wisdoms of Humanity”; a series of seven books, each one dedicated to a different cultural and geographical area (Tibet, India, Africa, Latin America, Far East, Middle East and West). Each book combines texts and photographs in order to reveal the philosophical and spiritual heritage of mankind.
Always instilled with rare intensity and emotion, Föllmi’s work portrays men, women and children he met throughout his voyages, and with whom he built an empathic and personal relationship. His portraits are often tinged with melancholia and a sense of interiority. Similarly to the Romantic pictorial movement of the 19th century, the landscapes render the littleness of mankind compared to the immensity of nature. So does his observation of the fleeting light on the landforms, of the wood textures, the rocks, the leaves, the changing seasons and the passing time. These landscapes evoke a reflection on men’s place in the universe. The attention to details conveys the magic of water and light, as well as the beauty of nature, often undamaged. These scenes, miniatures with great pictorial qualities, appear poetically throughout his artistic journey. They refer to Western painting culture, which is transposed in the 20th century through Olivier Föllmi’s sensitivity and photography.
In 2014, Olivier Föllmi started a cycle of conferences titled “Fleuve gelé – Fleuve de vie” that traces his epic trip on the frozen river of Zanskar. On this occasion, he came back to the privileged relationship he developed with a Tibetan family and their two children he then came to adopt. At the same time, the exhibition “Olivier Föllmi – Photographe voyageur” presented about fifty novel photographs at the Quartier Libre SIG, in Geneva.
Today, Olivier Föllmi continues his photographic work, carrying on his voyages throughout the world.