Bruno Barbey's career-spanning book reflects his insatiable thirst for the unknown
Bruno Barbey
"Photography is the only language that can be understood anywhere in the world"
- Bruno Barbey
Bruno Barbey, born in Morocco, has dual nationality – French and Swiss. He studied photography and graphic arts at the École des Arts et Métiers in Vevey, Switzerland. From 1961 to 1964 he photographed the Italians, considering them as protagonists of a small ‘theatrical world’, with the aim of capturing the spirit of a nation.
Bruno Barbey began his relationship with Magnum Photos in 1964. He served as Magnum vice president for Europe in 1978/1979 and as President of Magnum International from 1992 to 1995.
Over five decades Bruno Barbey has worked in all five continents and covered wars and conflicts in Nigeria, Vietnam, the Middle East, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Kuwait. His work has appeared in the world’s major magazines and he has published over 30 books.
In 1999 the Petit Palais, Paris, organized a large solo exhibition of photographs that Bruno Barbey had taken in Morocco over a period of three decades.
In 2015/2016, La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, presented his retrospective exhibition which is currently circulating internationally. He published simultaneously his retrospective book Passages.
He has received numerous awards for his work, including the French National Order of Merit. His photographs are exhibited worldwide, and feature in numerous museum collections.
In 2016, Bruno Barbey became a member of the French Academy of Fine Arts, Institut de France.
Today he is working on a new project and photographing extensively in China.
Exhibitions
2020 Latitudes, Fundación Caja Rural del Sur, Huelva, Spain.
2020 Les couleurs de la Chine, 212 Photography Art Festival, Istanbul, Turkey.
2019 NAMOC International Artworks Donation and Collection Exhibition : The True Color of China, The National Art Museum of China
2019 Exhibition Leica Gallery, Istanbul, Turquie.
2018 Retrospective, Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China.
2018 Au coeur de Mai 68, Visa pour l’image, Perpignan, France.
2018 China in Blue, Bursa Photofest, Bursa, Turkey.
2018 Au coeur de Mai 68, Galerie des Éditions du Pacifique, Paris, France.
2018 Bruno Barbey – Witness of Things Past, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2018 Bruno Barbey Space-Time Traveler, Shangaï, China.
2018 Mai 68 ou l’imagination au pouvoir, Château de Tours, France.
2018 Year of Zayed 2018. The Empty Quarter Gallery, Dubaï.
2018 Mai 68, 50 years, Beaugeste Gallery, Shanghai
2018 Bruno Barbey “Passages”, Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin
2017/2018 Frankfurt in French: Bruno Barbey “Passages”, Fotografie Forum, Frankfurt
2017 Bruno Barbey “Passages”, Alliance francaise, Shanghai
2017 Bruno Barbey, Leica Frankfurt Galerie
2017 Bruno Barbey “Passages”. Foto Kunst Stadtforum, Innsbruck
2017 “Magnum, la première fois”, Fondazione Brescia Musei, Brescia
2017 Vietnam War, Museo del Violino, Cremona
2017 Passages, Shanghai International Photographic Art Festival, China Art Palace
2016 Passages, The Pingyao International Photography Festival, China
2016 Two Magnum Master, Barbey-Berry, Shanghai Center of Photography, China
2015 Passages, Retrospective, Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris, France
2015 Deauville 1966-2015: Une allure folle, Deauville, France
2015 Morocco: A Scorching Beauty, The Empty Quarter Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2015 China since 1973, F11 Photographic Museum, Hong Kong
2014 Morocco, Marmaris Fotofest, Turkey
2014 Morocco: A Scorching Beauty, The Empty Quarter Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2013 Morroco, Bursa, Turkey.
2013 China in Kodachrome 1973 – 1980, Yunnan Provincial Museum, Kunming, China
2012 China in Kodachrome 1973 – 1980, Beaugeste photo Gallery, Shanghai, China.
2011 Istanbul, Festival Photomed, Sanary-sur-Mer, France.
2011 Oman 1971 by Bruno Barbey, Bait Al Baranda, Mascate, Sultanate of Oman.
2010 Shanghai Universelle, Galerie Lipao-Huang, Paris, France.
2010 Istanbul, Yapikredi Kultur Sanat Yayincilik, Istanbul, Turkey.
2009 A Procura de um Olhar, Pinacoteca do Estado de Sao Paulo, Brazil.
2009 Italyanlar (The Italians), Yapikredi Kultur Sanat Yayincilik, Istanbul, Turkey.
2008 My Morocco by Bruno Barbey, Gallery M, Seoul, Korea.
2008 Paris Tokyo 68, Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin, Germany.
2008 Paris Tokyo 68, Cajasol, Sala de exposiciones ‘Rey Chico”, Granada, Spain
2008 68 by Bruno Barbey, Sala Vimcours, Cordoba, Spain
2008 Paris Tokyo 68, Cajasol, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.
2008 May 68, Fotografevi Galeri, Istanbul, Turkey.
2008 May 68, Salle de L’Hôtel Fontfreyde, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
2008 May 68, Galerie des Editions du Pacifique, Paris, France.
2008 Mai 68, Institut français, Prague, Czech Republic.
2008 Mai 68, Base sous-marine, Bordeaux, France.
2008 Visiones de Marruecos, Palais El Badi, Marrakech, Morocco.
2007 Marokko Panoramiques, Kunstraum, Potsdam, Germany.
2007 Bulgarie, ‘Eurovisions’, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium.
2007 Visiones de Marruecos, Galerie Mohamed Kacimi, Fez, Morocco.
2007 Visiones de Marruecos, Ecole d’Arts et Métiers d’Arts, Tetuan, Morocco.
2007 Visiones de Marruecos, Cathédrale Sacré-Coeur, Casablanca, Morocco.
2007 Visiones de Marruecos, Instituto Cervantes en Tanger, Tanger, Morocco.
2007 Visiones de Marruecos, Théatre National Mohmmed V, Rabat, Morocco.
2007 Impressions du Maroc, Galerie des Editions du Pacifique, Paris, France.
2006 Visiones de Marruecos, Fundacion Tres Culturas del Mediterraneo, Sevilla, Spain.
2006 Marruecos – Canal de Isabel 2, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain.
2006 Marokko – Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin, Germany.
2005 Le Maroc, Palais de la culture, Puteaux, France.
2004 Maroc, Photogallerie, Montpellier, France.
2003 Les Italiens, Galleries FNAC, various cities in France and Europe.
2002 Los Italianos, Sala de Exposiciones Garcigrance, Salamanca, Spain.
2002 Maroc, Le Botanique, Brussels, Belgium.
2001 Bruno Barbey, Singer Gallery, San Francisco, California, USA.
1999 Fès, Hôtel de Ville, Strasbourg, France.
1999 Bruno Barbey: Maroc, Petit Palais, Paris, France.
1999 Les Italiens, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France.
1999 Fès, Galerie du Château d’Eau, Toulouse, France.
1998 Mai 68, Galerie Beaubourg, Vence, France.
1998 Mai 68, Galerie Unita, Milan, Italy.
1997 Fès, galleries FNAC, various cities, France.
1997 Fès, Gallerie Mohammed El-Fassi, Rabat, Morocco.
1997 Fès, Musée Batha, Fès, Morocco.
1996 Fès, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France.
1990 Le Maroc, Centre Culturel Le Port, La Réunion, France.
1985 Les Italiens, Galerie Magnum Paris, France.
1983 Pologne, Galleries FNAC, various cities, France.
1983 Poland, Museo d’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy; Nikon Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland.
1982 Portraits d’Asie, Galerie Olympus, Paris; Tokyo; Hamburg.
1978 Carnet de Route, Salon de la Photographie, Paris, France.
1972 Rétrospective, Galerie Nikon, Paris, France.
1967 Photos d’Italie, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France.
Books
2019Color of China, Published by Beijing United Publishing Co., Ltd & Post Wave Publishing
2016 PASSAGES, Chinese version, Beijing, Post Wave Publishing
2016 PASSAGES, published by Edition de La Martiniere
2015 Photopoche, Acte Sud
2015 China, from Mao to Modernity, published by Editions Didier Millet
2014 Chine, published by Les éditions du Pacifique
2012 Bruno Barbey , Fotocep,published by Fotografevi
2012 China in Kodachrome 1973 – 1980, Beaugeste photo Gallery, Shanghai, China
2011 Oman 1971, The Empty Quarter Gallery
2010 Shanghai, boxed set
2008 1968, published by Fotografei, Istanbul, Turkey
2008 68 and May 68, Bruno Barbey’s notebook (with of 15″ film by Caroline Thienot Barbey), Creaphis, France
2003-2004 Maroc, Editions de la Martinière, France / My Morocco, Thames & Hudson, UK / Marokko, Knesebeck, Germany
2002 Les Italiens, Editions de la Martinière, France; The Italians, Abrams, USA
2001 Le Paris de Sartre et Beauvoir,photographie du Paris d’aujourd’hui by Bruno Barbey, published by Edition du Chene.
2000 Essaouira, Editions du Chêne, France
1999 Photo Poche, Editions Nathan, France
1998 Mai 68, Editions de la Différence, France
1997 Gens des nuages, with JMG Le Clézio, Editions Stock, France
1996 Fès, immobile, immortelle, Editions Imprimerie Nationale, France
1988 Portugal, Hoffmann & Campe, Germany
1984 Le Gabon, Editions du Chêne, France
1982 Pologne, Editions Arthaud, France / Poland, Thames & Hudson, UK / Polen, Hoffmann & Campe, Germany
1979 Bombay, Time & Life Books, Netherlands
1978 Nigeria, Editions Jeune Afrique, France
1976 Iran, Editions Jeune Afrique
1974 Ceylan, Editions André Barret, France
1968 Ecosse, Editions Rencontre, Switzerland
1967 Koweït, Editions Rencontre, Switzerland
1966 Kenya, Editions Rencontre, Switzerland
1966 Portugal, Editions Rencontre, Switzerland
1964 Camargue, Editions Rencontre, Switzerland
1964 Naples, Editions Rencontre, Switzerland
Films
2015 Maroc éternel, Caroline Thiénot-Barbey (28 min)
2015 Pologne, foi de l’impossible, 2015 , Caroline Thiénot-Barbey (20 min)
2015 Passages , Caroline Thiénot-Barbey (26 min)
2014 Apocalypse Koweït, Caroline Thiénot-Barbey (5 min)
2012 China en Kodachrome, Caroline Thiénot-Barbey (18 min)
2008 Mai 68 vu par Bruno Barbey, Caroline Thiénot
2005 Grand Angle, 2M, Maroc
2003 Panoramiques Maroc, Caroline Thiénot (betanum, 12 min)
2002 Les Italiens, directed by Caroline Thiénot (betanum, 10 min)
1996 Maroc sans Frontière, directed by Mostafa Bouazzaoui for Moroccan television
1988 Assignment in Morocco, BBC, directed by Clem Vallance (in conjunction with centenary of National Geographic)
1979 3 Jours, 3 Photographes, directed by F. Moscovitz (about Bruno Barbey, Jean Loup Sieff and Robert Doisneau)
1968 Mai 68 (16mm, B&W)
Read More
