Laurent Elie Badessi (born November 27, 1964, in Avignon, France) is a French American photographer and artist based in New York City and Paris.
His photographs often addresses subtle and relevant questions on social, political and cultural issues, such as the relationship with nudity, religion, the environment, war or the fragility of life.
He spent hours taking photos of people and soon, started to draw attention to his work by winning prestigious photography contests such as the Guy Laroche Drakkar Prize.
He was able to finance this project thanks to the prominent "Bourse de l'aventure" prize that he won (1988), which was funded by several sponsors including Fuji Color, VSD magazine, and France Inter.
Thanks to these commercial assignments, Badessi has a steady income at an early age and was able to pursue his artistic quest and further explore the photography medium around the world.
Since nude work requires the deepest degree of trust between the photographer and the sitter, he felt that this phase was necessary to further evaluate the psychological impact of photography on people.
In between assignments and with this philosophy in mind, Badessi dedicated ten years taking nudes in dramatic landscapes, showing how close we are to nature.
In 2000, the prestigious Swiss publishing company Edition Stemmle, released his first book, SKIN, which featured a foreword written by Sondra Gilman, Founder and Chairperson of the photography committee at the Whitney Museum in New York.
A few solo shows presenting some of this work had previously taken place in Paris, but in the years to follow the publication of the book, more exhibitions opened in the United States and abroad.
During this transitional phase of his career, Badessi decided to focus on the fine art aspects of photography and only accepted commercial assignments that would grant him total control over the images.
The campaign he produced for Charles Jourdan (2004) is the perfect example of Badessi's desire to create and nurture an image from its concept to its final phase.
The success of the Charles Jourdan project was a great challenge, because for two decades, Guy Bourdin had generated a large amount of stunning photographs for the brand that have become iconic images.
To bring his own vision, Badessi played with eroticism and mythological symbolism, creating memorable visuals that are in the permanent collection of le Musée de la Publicité – Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
Badessi has had solo exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami, London, Milan, Rome, Paris, Nice, Barcelona, Monaco.
"Voilà" – "Age of Innocence" Le Parcours de l’art 24th Edition, Théatre Benoit XII, Avignon, France (2018).
"La belleza de las lineas" Master pieces from the Gilman & González-Falla Photography Collection, Fundación Foto Colectania, Barcelona, Spain (2019).
"La beauté des lignes" Master pieces from the Gilman & González-Falla Photography Collection, Propriété Caillebotte, Yerres, France (2018).
"Fragilités" – "Age of Innocence" La Bourse du Talent, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, François Mitterrand, Paris (2017).
For several years, he decided to put painting on the side to take part in the family business, which spanned from banking to coffee exploitations and diamond mining.
Miguel Angelo Badessi was 19 years old when he arrived in Paris and quickly picked up the art of photography, as he wanted the follow the footsteps of his father and his older siblings.
Later on, he worked in several of the other prestigious Parisian photo studios Lorelle, Saad, and Piaz that mainly focused on high fashion, celebrities and movie stars.
While working at Studios Manuel Frères, Raymonde Feugère met Germaine Hirschefeld, known as Cosette Harcourt, who was taking care of the appointments for sittings of the celebrities.
They hired a part of the Manuel Frères team and Raymonde Badessi joined the newly opened studio, which quickly became extremely famous for celebrity portraiture.
In 1957, looking to escape the fast-paced Parisian lifestyle, the Badessis acquired the renowned establishments Studios Châteauneuf and settled in the south of France.