Biographie
Elie Monferier, born in 1988, grew up in Bordeaux and holds a degree in Lettres Modernes (Master's degree in Medieval Literature from Bordeaux-Montaigne University).
His work is regularly exhibited at festivals and galleries in France and abroad, including the Circulations Festival, the Athens Photo Festival, Galerie Sage in Paris and Galerie Enfant Sauvage in Brussels.
He won the Prix Polyptique du livre d'artiste in 2024, the Gomma Photography Grant Best Black and White Award in 2024, the Prix Mentor in 2023, and the Premio al mejor libro de fotografía del año at PhotoEspana in 2020. His latest artist's book, Journal des Mines, was a finalist for the Prix du Livre at the Rencontres de la Photographie d'Arles and PhotoEspana in 2024.
He publishes limited-edition artist's books made entirely in his studio: Sang Noir (2019), Sacre (2022), Journal des Mines (2023). He has also published Fable (2021) with Origini Edizioni, and May You Stay (2022) with Pierre Bessard Edition.
In parallel with his artistic practice, he teaches art direction in graphic design and iconography at the Ecole de Condé Bordeaux, and leads workshops on the creation of photography books.
Présentation
In the Middle Ages, black blood referred to the blood of stags and wild boars in rut, but also to the fiery blood of those who hunt them, those who go deep into the wilderness to confront them. He kills them in order to eat their hearts, to possess their strength and virile vigour. In so doing, man reconnects with his animal dimension. Excess, unreason and disorder dictate his behaviour. He becomes a beast himself so that he can meet the real beast he is hunting down, but also to free the phantasmagorical one inside him.