Arnault Joubin

Nominated for the " Night of the Young Creators " Prize (1990), winner of the Ilford Photographic Competition Prize (1985, 1986), Arnault Joubin is a portrait photographer of international fame, who has photographed many of the world's actors, musicians and celebrities. He has collaborated with numerous magazines, record companies and advertising agencies. In 1996, he exhibited in the MOMA in Chicago and Houston, a photographic work commissioned by Hermès, which were the basis of the book “Le Selle Hermès”.

What connects Curtis Hanson, Jacques Weber, Wim Wenders, Cédric Klapinch, Benoît Poelvoorde, Jackie Chan, Woody Allen and Emir Kusturica? They have all been photographed by Arnault Joubin. A portrait photographer of international renown, Joubin is one of the most influential members of the “Advertising French New Wave”. He has captured numerous personalities from Woody Allen to César, Mario Vargas Llosa to Charles Trenet. In his photographs the world of cinema holds a singular place, where several generations of actors, directors and artists come together.

Created for the most part as commissions, these photographs were first discovered in the press before being shown in galleries. Passionate about film photography, Arnault Joubin has mastered this art form with the aim to “write with light”. This light that he constructs, tames, and models, reveals the traits of his subject. Beyond a prolific photographer, he is also a portraitist, capable of revealing the essence of the personality of his "victim". He captures the face at the imperceptible moment when the mask falls letting glimpse a whit of truth, the one that we do not show in the cinema. He decodes the language of the face, and uncovers the soul.

Joubin also excels equally in photographing the human form nude. Close-up, black and white, dark and profound, the image is as private as it is effective. When creating these works Joubin’s approach resembles that of a cinematographer. An artist without an equal, he builds these scenes to offer us his vision of those that “make” the cinema.