Virgile Simon Bertrand is a French photographer who has been based in Asia since the late 1990s. Bertrand studied Applied Arts at the prestigious Ecole Boulle (1988 - 1991, Paris), Graphic Design at Ecole Duperré (1992 - 1993, Paris) and Photography at the Ecole Nationale de la Photographie (1993, Arles). Bertrand began his career assisting Magnum photographer Abbas and working as a photographer for the Opéra National de Paris. In 2004 Bertrand was awarded the Foreign Correspondents' Club Hong Kong Photograph of the Year for his portrait of Cardinal Zen and was a finalist in the ‘Best Commissioned Portrait' category for the 2009 AOP Awards. His work has been exhibited in Taipei, Hong Kong, Paris, Arles and in London in the 2008 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery. Bertrand has also been selected as one of ten finalists in the Architectural Category of the 2009 Hasselblad Masters Competition.
From 21 October until 18 November 2009, a retrospective of the photographic works of Virgile Simon Bertrand from the last ten years will be exhibited at ArtisTree, Swire Properties’ purpose built art space at Island East.
Supported by Swire Island East, the exhibition is curated by Davina Lee and organized in collaboration with Diorama Projects. PROXEMICS considers the unspoken rules of human relationships and the relationship between people and the space around them. ‘Proxemics’, a term coined by the anthropologist Edward T. Hall identifies four distinct zones that mark our relationships with others. The exhibition examines the authority of space and spatial awareness through vision and sound using the music of James Devane and Christopher Knight.
Bertrand’s portra...
The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2008 showcases the work of some of the most talented emerging young photographers, alongside that of established professionals. Selected anonymously from an open competition, the diversity of styles reflects the international mix of entrants as well as the range of approaches to the portrait genre encompassing editorial, advertising and fine art images. The judges have selected 60 portraits for the exhibition from 6,758 submissions entered by 2,575 photographers from around the world. The exhibition will run from 6 November 2008 through to 15 February 2009 at the National Portrait Gallery, London....