Bertrand MEUNIER (Tendance Floue)

Profile

Bertrand Meunier started teaching herself photography in 1993. He was awarded the Leica Oscar Barnack Prize in 2001 for his work about the demolition of industrial zones in northern China. In 2005, his book Le sang de la Chine, quand le silence tue (the blood of China, when silence kills), a collaboratively produced work, received both the International Media Prize and the Joseph Kessel Prize.

About works / performance

Self taught, Bertrand Meunier bought his first camera in 1993 and went on an "apprenticeship" for several years in South East Asia and Mexico.
Since 1997, he has been drawing a picture of contemporary China which is far from its conventional image, intent on showing the reality behind the economic miracle, the hidden face of the country: the demolition of industrial zones in the north (awarded by the Leica Oscar Barnack Prize in 2001), the transformations of the peasant world, the destruction of ancient parts of Pekin, people who suffer from AIDS because they sold some blood, suppressed into silence by corrupt authorities...
In 2005, his book « Le sang de la Chine, quand le silence tue » (the blood of China, when silence kills), done in collaboration with the journalist Pierre Haski, was awarded by the International Media Prize and the Joseph Kessel Prize. Beside his ongoing research project in China, he has made many documentaries throughout the world, inspired by his wanderings and investigations. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Argentina, Peru, Syria, Iran: territories which have known havoc, in which he examines the traumas and explores the areas long since ignored.