Raymond Depardon
Raymond Depardon (; born 6 July 1942) is a French photographer, photojournalist and documentary filmmaker. Early life. Depardon was born in Villefranche-sur-Saône, France. Photographer. Depardon is a mainly self-taught photographer, as he began taking pictures on his family's farm when he was 12. He apprenticed with a photographer-optician in Villefranche-sur-Saône before he moved to Paris in 1958. He began his career as a photojournalist in the early 1960s. He travelled to conflict zones including Algeria, Vietnam, Biafra and Chad. In 1966, Depardon co-founded the photojournalism agency Gamma. In 1973 he became  Gamma's director. From 1975 to 1977, Depardon traveled in Chad. The following year, he left Gamma to become a Magnum Photos associate, then a full member in 1979. In the 1990s, Depardon returned to his parents' farm to photograph rural landscapes in color and, in 1996, published a black and white road journal, "In Africa". In May 2012, he took the official portrait of French President François Hollande. Director. Depardon is also the author of several documentary shorts and feature films. His approach as a director is influenced by cinéma vérité and direct cinema. In 1969 he made his  first film (about Jan Palach) and he has directed 16 films since then. In 1984 Depardon made his first fiction film, "Empty Quarters". Other notable examples include "1974, une partie de campagne", on the 1974 presidential campaign of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, "Reporters" (1981) and "New York, N.Y." (1986), "La captive du désert" (1990) and "Caught in the Acts (Délits flagrants)" (1994).