ABOUT

EN

Born in Lyon in 1984, represented by Akio Nagasawa gallery.

Chloé Jafé is an artist and a photographer trained at the École de Condé in Lyon
and at the UAL Central Saint Martins School in London.

She has been able to create a unique personal voice in the
world of documentary photography.

Those close to her say bluntly that she photographs with
her gut, using the camera as a key to understanding the
strange and the foreign. Her obsession and intuition has
enabled her to access secret worlds. Her ability to connect
to her subjects has meant her work really is exceptionally
personal – the world through Chloe Jafes eyes.

She worked and immersed herself in Japan and Japanese culture
from 2013-2019 creating a trilogy of work.

The images are raw, black and white, tender and ferocious.
She reveals an unprecedented vision of hidden parts of
Japanese society. Her trilogy, composed of the chapters
“I give you my life", "Okinawa mon amour" and "How I met Jiro",
highlights the little-known and subversive sides of an
archipel ago where modesty is a paramount.

Critically acclaimed, her work on the women of Yakuza was
rewarded by the Bourse du Talent in 2017 and exhibited at the
Bibliotèque nationale de France.

Attracted by sensitive and difficult subjects, often marginal,
Chloé Jafé does not hesitate in her practice to push the limits
of the photographic medium by working directly on prints,
in acrylicand brush. Each of her series has resulted in a limited
edition book, bound and handcrafted by the artist. 

FR

Née à Lyon en 1984, représentée par Akio Nagasawa.

Chloé Jafé est une artiste et photographe formée à l’École de
Condé à Lyon et à la UAL Central Saint Martins school de Londres.
Elle a su développer au fil des années une écriture à la fois
plasticienne et documentaire, viscéralement personnelle.

Ses proches disent sans détour qu’elle photographie avec son
ventre, use de l’appareil comme d’une clé de compréhension
pour accéder à l’étrange et l’étranger. Et au passage, décoder
les mécanismes intimes qui œuvrent chez elle en sourdine,
telles des intuitions virant à l’obsession.

De son immersion au Japon entre 2013 et 2019, Chloé Jafé a
rapporté des images au noir et blanc d’acier, moites et rudes,
tendres et féroces, qui révèlent une vision inédite d’un pays
opaque. Sa trilogie, composée des chapitres “I give you my life”,
“Okinawa mon amour” et “How I met Jiro”, met en lumière les pans méconnus et subversifs d’un archipel où la pudeur est de rigueur. 


Salué par la critique, son reportage sur les femmes de Yakuza
a été récompensé par la Bourse du Talent en 2017 et exposé la
Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Attirée par les sujets sensibles et difficiles, souvent marginaux,
Chloé Jafé n’hésite pas dans sa pratique à repousser les limites
du médium photographique en intervenant directement sur les tirages,
à l’acrylique et au pinceau. Chacune de ses séries a donné lieu à
un ouvrage en édition limitée, relié et réalisé à la main par l’artiste. 

Selected Exhibitions
- November 2020 - Irezumi, the art of Japanese tattoo, Gallery Écho 119, Paris, France
- November 2020 - PhotoDoc, Halle des Blancs Manteaux, Paris, France “Okinawa mon Amour”(online)
- September 2020 - Kyotographie Festival, KG select, Kyoto, Japan “Osaka Ben” (VR link)
- September 2020 - Kodoji, Tokyo, Japan “Okinawa Mon Amour”
- November 2019 - Paris Photo, represented by Akio Nagasawa gallery, Le Grand Palais, Paris, France
- January 2018 - Collaboration with 6 mois magazine, Les Champs libres, Rennes, France
- November 2018 - Paris Photo, represented by Akio Nagasawa gallery, Le Grand Palais, Paris, France
- June 2018 - The Talent Award, Maison de la Photographie, Lille, France “Inochi Azukemasu”
- May 2018 - Festival Images Singulieres, Sete, France “Inochi Azukemasu”
- May 2018 - Photo London, represented by Akio Nagasawa gallery, Somerset House, London, UK
- December 2017 - The Talent Award, BNF (French National Library), Paris, France “Inochi Azukemasu”
- Aout 2017 - The Talent Award, Dali International Festival, Dali, China “Inochi Azukemasu”

Publications
- 愛しの沖縄/Okinawa Mon Amour. Limited handmade edition of 30 copies, self-published, Sept 2020
- 命預けます/I give you my life. Limited handmade edition of 30 copies, self-published, December 2019
- Fragilités, La Bourse du Talent 2017, Editions Delpire éditeur, December 2017
- Reporter ohne Grenzen magazine (Germany) (May 2018),
- Reporters sans frontière magazine (France) (March 2018)
- D-La Repubblica magazine (Italy) (February 2018),
- 6 Mois magazine (France) (August 2017)

Selected Interviews
- BBC Reel (UK - January 2020)
- Brainorama (FR - November 2018)
- 1000 words (UK - September 2018 | Essay by Emma Lewis, Assistant curator at the Tate Modern London)
- France Inter L’Instant M (FR - December 2017)


Podcasts
- Les entretiens du studio (MEP Paris - January 2021)
Vision(s) (FR - Mars 2021)


Awards/Grants
- Documentary Photography Grant, CNAP (French National Art Centre), 2018
- Sony World Photography Award 2018, short-listed, 2017
- The 7th Dali International Photography Exhibition 2017 New Artist Award (China)
- La Bourse Du Talent 2017 Prix #69 Reportage (France)
- Luma Dummy Book Award 2017, Short-listed

Collections

- University of the Arts London Collection
- Private collections in Switzerland, England and France
- Tate Modern book collection (命預けます/I give you my life, 2019)

どうもどうも!