ABOUT​

BIOGRAPHY

Born in 1969 in Strasbourg.

Lives and works between Paris, Hong Kong and Kinshasa.

A self-taught photographer, Patrick Willocq had a midlife rebirth. It was a return trip to Congo (where he grew up) in 2009 that made him quit the professional activities he had been carrying out for twenty years in Asia, in order to devote himself fully to photography, a thirty-year commitment.

Patrick draws on his imagination the art of metamorphosing reality with poignant scenes in the image of his deep humanist convictions. With the subject entirely part of his creative process, he practices an aesthetic never devoid of ethics. In all his carefully composed performative stagings, entirely constructed in situ rather than created on Photoshop, he sends messages that pass through a participatory theatricality. His artistic practice is a hybrid between ethnology, sociology, performance, installation, video and photography.

Since 2012, he has been nominated for or chosen as a finalist or winner of multiple prestigious international awards, including SFR Jeunes Talents de Paris Photo 2012, Prix Photo de l’Agence Française de Développement 2012, Prix Découverte des Rencontres d’Arles 2014, Prix Coup de Coeur HSBC pour la Photographie 2016, Sony World Photography Awards 2016, Prix Niepce 2017, Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2014 and 2017.

His works have been exhibited at Paris Photo, AIPAD New York, Context Art Miami, Photo Basel, Joburg Art Fair, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. It has also been featured in numerous TV broadcasts and publications, including CNN Amanpour, Arte, France 5, TV5 Monde, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, Stern, Polka, Le Monde and Paris Match.

Patrick is co-author, with director Florent de La Tullaye, of a 52-minute documentary film, Le Chant des Walés, broadcast on the television channel France 5 with a preview at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris at the end of 2016.

Patrick is represented by the galleries Clelia Belgrado Vision Quest in Genoa, Project 2.0 in La Haye, and Clémentine de la Feronnière in Paris.

2013

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

2017

• Nominated Prix Niepce

• Finalist Leica Oskar Barnack Award

2016

• Finalist Photolucida Critical Mass

• Nominated to Prix Pictet

• Professional shortlist in Portraiture at the Sony World Photography Awards

• Prix Coup de Cœur HSBC pour la photographie

• 1st Place Exhibitor's Choice Award, CENTER Santa Fé

• Winner “Dreams” The Center for Fine Art Photography

2015

2014

• Nominated to the Discovery Award Arles

• Nominated to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize

• Finalist Leica Oskar Barnack Award

• Winner La Bourse du Talent Portrait

• Winner POPCAP prize

• Finalist Renaissance Photography Prize

• Finalist Lens Culture New Talent Award

• BJP the Ones to Watch in 2014

2013

• Finalist Lens Culture Exposure Award

• Winner International Photographer Competition, Viewpoint Gallery, Canada

2012

• Winner of the best AFD photo reportage

• Winner SFR Jeunes Talents Paris Photo

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

• Vanity Fair, Italy

• Internazionale, Italy

• Vrij, The Netherlands

• Snoeck, Belgium

• Foam Magazine, The Netherlands

• ArtNet News, USA

• Le Soir, Switzerland

• Zoom, Italy

• Il Fotografo, Italy

• Regardez voir, France Inter Radio, France

2018

2017

2016

• Chaeg Korea

• Beaux Arts

• Polka

• Geo Magazine

• British Journal of Photography

• Jiemian China

• Feature Shoot 

• Roads and Kingdoms  ​​

• The New York Times Lens Blog 

• Design Indaba 

• CNN 

• The Guardian

• The Sunday Times (pdf)

• Reuters Thomson Foundation News 

• The Huffington Post USA 

• La Repubblica

• Gup Magazine

• Il Fotografo

• Internazionale 

• AFAR USA

• La Stampa

• Lens Blog New York Times

• British Journal of Photography

• De Morgen

• VSD

• Another Africa

• Libération

• The New Yorker

• Marie Claire Spain

• Gente di Fotografia

• Paris Match

• DOC Magazine Poland

• Narrative.ly

• Afrique in visu

• L’Illustré

2014

• RFI

• Stern Germany

• 6 Mois

• Le Point

• Paris Match

• Huffington Post

• Images FNAC

• Arts Magazine

• Beaux Arts

• Photo

• Polka

• Leica LFI

• Marie Claire Italy

• Marie Claire Taiwan

• Marie Claire Hong Kong

• Marie Claire Korea

• Marie Claire Greece

• Marie Claire Roumania

• Marie Claire Czechoslovakia

• Gup Magazine

• Hot Shoe

• Emaho

• Muze

• Connaissance des arts Photo

• Photo

• Photo News DE

• Réponses Photo

• Korean Monthly magazine

2013

• Libération

• Réponses Photo

• TV5 Monde News March 7th

• Polka

• Radio RFI February 26th

• Radio Nova February 25th

• PDN

• Ouest France

BOOK

• Songs of the Walés – Publisher Kehrer Verlag

PUBLICATIONS

• HUTS – World Press Photo Japan

• The Documentary Impulse – Stuart Franklin, Phaidon Press

• Family Photography Now – Stephen McLaren, Thames and Hudson

• Fotopraxis mit Perspektive, Erfolgreiche Projekte und ihre Macher – Martina Mettner, Fotofeinkost Verlag

TV DOCUMENTARY

• Le Chant des Walés, a 52 mns TV documentary. Co-author with Director Florent de La Tullaye. Nynamor Films. With France Télévisions. Broadcasted 8 times in October 2016 and June 2018 on French TV FR5

BIOGRAPHY

ESSAYS

"Patrick Willocq: A New Photographic Challenge" 

by Alain Mingam

"Patrick Willocq’s Songs of the Walés
The Same but Different: Rituals and Surrealism"

by Azu Nwagbogu

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2017

• Art The Hague, Project 2.0 / Gallery, The Netherlands

• Leica gallery, Berlin, Germany

• Leica Gallery, Paris, France

• Noorderzon Performing Art Festival Groningen, The Netherlands

• Dali International Photo, China

• Photo Basel, Gallery Vision Quest, Switzerland

• Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, Russia

• Skin, Gallery Vision Quest, Genoa, Italy

• Art Paris Art Fair, Galerie Baudoin Lebon, France

• La Maison Populaire de Montreuil, Paris, France

• CENTER Santa Fé, USA

• Photolucida Critical Mass, Portland, USA

2016

• Art Fair Cologne, Germany

• The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA  

• Photo Docks Art Fair, Lyon, France  

• Fiera di Bologna, Italy, Vision Quest gallery

• Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel

• Prix HSBC pour la Photographie, Esther Woerdehoff Gallery, Paris, France

2015

• Miami Context Art Fair, Miami, USA

• Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhaguen, Denmark

• AIPAD, New York, galerie baudoin lebon

• Fiera di Bologna, Italy, galerie Vision Quest

• La Bourse du Talent, MEP Lille, France

• GRID, Cape Town, South Africa

2013

• La Bourse du Talent, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, France

• Paris Photo, SFR 10 years anniversary, Paris, France

• Addis Foto Fest - POPCAP, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

• Festival Internacional de Fotografia de Cabo Verde - POPCAP, Cabo Verde

• Cape Town Month of Photography – POPCAP, Cape Town, South Africa

• Eyes On, European Month of Photography – POPCAP, Vienna, Austria

• Image Afrique, POPCAP, Basel, Switzerland

• Joburg Art Fair, galerie baudoin lebon

• Nuit de la Photo, La-Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland

• Schau Dortmund (nominated by Martin Parr), Dortmund, Germany

• Kolga Tbilisi Photo, Tbilisi, Georgia

2014

• Portrait(s), Vichy, France

• International Photography Festival, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

2012

• Paris Photo, SFR Jeunes Talents

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

2018

• Nominated to Prix Pictet

• Longlist Kraszna-Krausz Book Award

2017

• Nominated to Prix Niepce

• Finalist Leica Oskar Barnack Award

2016

• Finalist Photolucida Critical Mass

• Nominated to Prix Pictet

• Professional shortlist in Portraiture at the Sony World Photography Awards

• Prix Coup de Cœur HSBC pour la photographie

• 1st Place Exhibitor's Choice Award, CENTER Santa Fé

• Winner “Dreams” The Center for Fine Art Photography

2015

• Winner GUP magazine anniversary competition

• Winner Grand Prix Fotofestiwal Lodz

2014

• Nominated to the Discovery Award Arles

• Nominated to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize

• Finalist Leica Oskar Barnack Award

• Winner La Bourse du Talent Portrait

• Winner POPCAP prize

• Finalist Renaissance Photography Prize

• Finalist Lens Culture New Talent Award

• BJP the Ones to Watch in 2014

2013

• Finalist Lens Culture Exposure Award

• Winner International Photographer Competition, Viewpoint Gallery, Canada

2012

• Winner of the best AFD photo reportage

• Winner SFR Jeunes Talents Paris Photo

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

2019

• Connaissance des Arts, France

• ELLE Deco, France

• The Art Newspaper, France 

• Arts in the City, Belgium 

• Tijd, Belgium

• Le Soir, Belgium 

• LM Magazine, Belgium

• La Libre.be, Belgium

• Flux New, Belgium 

• RTBF, Belgium 

• UNESCO courier

2018

• Vanity Fair, Italy

• Internazionale, Italy

• Vrij, The Netherlands

• Snoeck, Belgium

• Foam Magazine, The Netherlands

• ArtNet News, USA

• Le Soir, Switzerland

• Zoom, Italy

• Il Fotografo, Italy

• Regardez voir, France Inter Radio, France

2017

• ARTE Journal

• France 3 Journal

• Polka Magazine #39

• Libération

• El Pais Semanal 

• Radio France Inter Babel Sur Seine

• Radio Nova

• ​Dienacht magazine, Germany

• Fotomen, China

• AFAR, USA 

• Causette, France

• NPCI, Korea

• Pasatiempo, USA

• UNESCO courier

2016

• Chaeg Korea

• Beaux Arts

• Polka

• Geo Magazine

• British Journal of Photography

• Jiemian China

• Feature Shoot 

• Roads and Kingdoms  ​​

• The New York Times Lens Blog 

• Design Indaba 

• CNN 

• The Guardian

• The Sunday Times (pdf)

• Reuters Thomson Foundation News 

• The Huffington Post USA 

• La Repubblica

2015

• Gup Magazine

• Il Fotografo

• Internazionale 

• AFAR USA

• La Stampa

• Lens Blog New York Times

• British Journal of Photography

• De Morgen

• VSD

• Another Africa

• Libération

• The New Yorker

• Marie Claire Spain

• Gente di Fotografia

• Paris Match

• DOC Magazine Poland

• Narrative.ly

• Afrique in visu

• L’Illustré

2014

• RFI

• Stern Germany

• 6 Mois

• Le Point

• Paris Match

• Huffington Post

• Images FNAC

• Arts Magazine

• Beaux Arts

• Photo

• Polka

• Leica LFI

• Marie Claire Italy

• Marie Claire Taiwan

• Marie Claire Hong Kong

• Marie Claire Korea

• Marie Claire Greece

• Marie Claire Roumania

• Marie Claire Czechoslovakia

• Gup Magazine

• Hot Shoe

• Emaho

• Muze

• Connaissance des arts Photo

• Photo

• Photo News DE

• Réponses Photo

• Korean Monthly magazine

2013

• Libération

• Réponses Photo

• TV5 Monde News March 7th

• Polka

• Radio RFI February 26th

• Radio Nova February 25th

• PDN

• Ouest France