Description

Antoine d’Agata does not stage the world he photographs, he is merely the silent witness, the assiduous spectator. He plunges himself into it headlong, and carries us along with him in these ordinary or extreme experiences of the flesh, the void, death and pleasure. There is an essential quality to his work, as well as an urgency.

 

Existence is about the unceasing search for an intensity-packed life – a sort of recurring, never ending, forward-moving fleeing, ever looking for loss of equilibrium or a plunge into the void, for self-destruction, self-exploitation.

Antoine d'Agata
© Antoine d'Agata | Magnum Photos

Born in Marseilles, Antoine d’Agata left France in 1983 and remained overseas for the next ten years. Finding himself in New York in 1990, he pursued an interest in photography by taking courses at the International Center of Photography, where his teachers included Larry Clark and Nan Goldin. During his time in New York, in 1991-92, d’Agata worked as an intern in the editorial department of Magnum.

After a four-year hiatus he began working on self-assigned projects that documented the darker corners of society in his home country of France and beyond. Shooting in his signature graphic black and white, his images are often provocative, regularly inserts himself in the story. Since 2005 Antoine d’Agata has had no settled place of residence but has worked around the world. He joined Magnum in 2004.

© Antoine d'Agata | Magnum Photos

Get Magnum news and updates directly to your inbox

Stay in touch
Learn about online and offline exhibitions, photography fairs, gallery events, plus fine print news and activities, on a monthly basis.
Get fortnightly tips and advice articles, find out about the latest workshops, free online events and on-demand courses.
Stay up to date every Thursday with Magnum photographers’ activities, new work, stories published on the Magnum website, and the latest offerings from our shop.