MY NEW WEBSITE WILL BE LAUNCHED EARLY NOVEMBER.... STAY TUNED
This project explores my lifelong interests in society as a sociologist (PhD) and in photography and the importance of art to reflect on complex issues often connecting past, present and future.
View a sample of photos here. Gallery: Leica Fotografie International (LFI). Instagram @jeanbogais
Update: Photo book project (theme-based) sponsored–and to be published–by Leica Australia in 2025.
I'm a Paris-Sorbonne educated sociologist (PhD) with over 35-years-experience mostly around violence. I watch people and their social conditions in a raw form. I'm interested by their surroundings – the places where they live and the places they are connected with physically and metaphorically to better understand their being. For more information on my background click here.
Best way to describe myself: I'm a bit of loner who likes people. Whatever I did (and still do) has always became the extention of my interests. The scale of what I have done and what I still want to achive is in constant movement and competition.
Photography has always been an important part of my life and is connected to everything that I do; a means to immerse myself in creativity, capturing scenes and emotions and sharing my vision with a viewer. It is about self-expression, my freedom of speech. It is the photographic frame–physically and metaphorically– that keeps the fluid border between what I want and do not want. For me, photography is not about describing, but exploring the meaning of "things."
Privately, although I like to experiment with a number of "genres", my preference is street photography. I like to explore the social identity of a community. How someone walks or wears a hat can attract me more than the most beautiful landscape.
I have had a strong interest in the history of photography–and art broadly–since my tennage years and studied the work of many photographers and painters. My interest in investigating and documenting, together with my dedication to justice and human rights, led me to become a foreign correspondent (including working with CBC and AFP broadcast) in the early part of my career, and a UN investigator who–with others–went on to documenting evidence for international tribunals in important investigations ranging from human rights abuses to genocide (Cambodia.) I have continued working with international organisations until recently, including education/training of frontline practitioners. Photography has played a important role in these programs as well as in the university courses that I designed and developed over time.
Photographers I admire and who have/had a strong influence on how I see and feel photography and the world at large include: Saul Leiter, Ernst Haas, Mary Ellen Mark, Henry Cartier-Bresson, Albert Watson, Josef Koudelka, Bruno Barbey, Elliott Erwitt, Dorothea Lange, Sebastiẫo Salgado, Penti Sammahlati, Carolyn Drake, Matt Black.
I have been privileged over the years to be authorised to take photographs in indigenous communities in Australia and overseas – at times of highly significant and sensitive cultural events.
Special acknowledgment to my mentor Michael Freeman. Michael is a world-acclaimed photographer and writer with 147 books to his credit including 60 on the practice of photography. According to Hachette Australia and Amazon, 4 million copies of his books have been sold worldwide.
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"Adventure" has been an important part of my life too. Among other significant adventure projects, I am a round-the-world solo sailor when traditional celestial navigation was the only means of navigation available. No GPS available then. This experience has influenced who I am enormously and brought me close to nature and the environment. I remain a dedicated sailor and spend as much time as I can enjoying blue water.
All photos taken with Leica M cameras & lenses (film and digital) – all manual.
