Cadinot was born during World War II, in German-occupied Paris, in the Montmartre hill area of the Batignolles Quarter.

[1] He first pursued a career in photography, which took on a homosexual angle with his nude portrait of writer Yves Navarre and singer Patrick Juvet.

[1] Setting up his own production company, French Art, Cadinot made dozens of 16 mm films.

[2] In 2004, he won a FICEB HeatGay Award for Best Director (Les secrets de famille - French Art).

In October 2023, Editions Hors-Champ will be publishing a book of over a hundred black-and-white and colour photographs taken by Jean-Daniel Cadinot between 1970 and 2005.