It definitely takes just a bit more than black and white photos of naked girls to become a famous photographer. Antoine D’Agata knows how to make this “just a bit” work. He has already earned more than five major awards for his works.
D’Agata worked as an intern in the editorial department of Magnum Photos Agency, but despite his experiences and training in the U.S., after his return to France in 1993 he took a four-year break from photography. His first books of photographs, De Mala Muerte and Mala Noche, were published in 1998, and the following year Galerie Vu began distributing his work. In 2001, he published Hometown, and won the Nipce Prize for young photographers. He continued to publish regularly: Vortex and Insomnia appeared in 2003, accompanying his exhibition 1001 Nuits, which opened in Paris in September.
Though some audience call D’Agata’s works “mindblowing, close, personal, strange, harsh,” it’s really hard to say the works are outstanding. And besides, what is modern photography – something like staring at vague pictures of lonely naked women and talking about deep feelings during lunch in Ritz, isn’t it?