Patrick Zachmann was born in 1955 in Choisy-le-Roi, France, and became a freelance photographer in 1976.
For more than 40 years, Patrick Zachmann has produced acclaimed, long-term projects that use photography and film to explore themes of memory, identity and immigration. He has documented the Chinese Diaspora, Jewish identity and the plight of migrants in Marseilles, all the while pushing himself to subvert his ‘style’ by working with both analogue and digital, colour and black and white, and using multimedia formats.
One of his most significant bodies of work is So Long, China (1982-2016), which explores the daily lives of the Chinese, living both inside and outside of their home country. As well as stills photography, Zachmann has directed several films. Zachmann joined Magnum in 1985 and became a member in 1990.