Jean-Philippe Gauvrit (b.1963) is a French photographer and poet. An early reader, he started writing poems in his childhood, and discovered photography at the age of 20, stunned by Alexander Rodtchenko’s pictures. After graduating in Management Sciences, he pursued a professional career with global corporations, which led him and his family to Asia in 2001. For 18 years he took part to the economic and social transformation of the region, in China, India and South-east Asia. In addition to juggling work and family responsibilities, he followed his own artistic passions in poetry and photography.
In 2013, he developed Ménière's disease, a chronic illness that has compelled him to change the way he lives. After settling back to France in 2019, he became a professional coach and mentor. A self-taught photographer, Jean-Philippe studied Therapeutic Photography at Robert Gordon University (Aberdeen) in 2022. In his practice, he helps people deal with fast-paced environments and workplace issues, and shares how photography and writing helped him in these areas.
A husband, a father, and grand father of an international family, he alternates between Paris, the Cotentin Region in Normandy, and sometimes London.
I chose to ride the tiger of an intensive life, stretching myself across activities, geographies and cultures. For many years, the common thread in my photography work was to observe the absurdity and the dull, invisible violence of the postmodern reality I was thrown in, and relate it to my own journey. It guided my earlier series in the 90ies, and later my larger projects, particularly in China, where I found myself at the core of one of the most mind-blowing transformation Mankind has ever experienced.
My photographic practice mirrored the intensity I was living in, but I failed to find the meaning and the coherence I was looking for. On the other hand, writing poetry has allowed me to connect with my inner dimensions, and conduct a creative and spiritual quest, which was essential for me.
The outbreak of the disease brutally shifted these questions to an intimate plan. Instead of coping with the violence and the absurdity of the world, I now have to deal with those the illness creates on me everyday. In that challenge, I try to build a form of continuity in my life and in my identity. Slowing down, finding light, sometimes from nothing, transcending the situation, are at the core of my current creative endeavours, as well as exploring where combining Photography and Poetry can lead me to.
Publications
• Aberration: A photopoetry suite of 37 poems (in the English language) written with randomly generated words, and photographs. KDP edition, 2024
• "Ami que je ne connais pas”, seven sets of poems written between 1989 and 2021 in the French language. Ventdoeil Editions, 2022 (in French)
• Shanghai in jpg: An overview of the urban spawl and transformation in Shanghai between 2004 and 2008, and the ephemeral cohabitation of two worlds. Beaugeste Design Solutions / International Publishing House for China's Culture, 2008
• Masters Dissertation: "Can we talk about Intercultural Coaching?" - Université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas, 2020
Photo series
• Wholeness Nothingness (2019 to date), a self-reflective projet combining photography and poetry
• Lindbergh Drive (2022), a therapeutic photogaphy walk with my son in Normandy
• Life is a Slot Machine (2013-2022), a personal reflection about my relation to Ménière’s Disease
• Song of Signs (2015-2016), a graphic and colourful view of Shanghai and Singapore
• Shanghai Districts (2012-2015), a visual exploration of Minhang, Pudong and Baoshan districts
• New-Delhi (2012-2015), urban walk in New-Delhi and Gurgaon
• China Other Cities (2009-2012), a photographic journey in Zhengzhou, Shenyang, Wuhan and Changsha
• T2190 (2009-2012), the western outskirts of Paris, following the track of a tramway and a bus lines
• Shanghai in JPG (2004-2008), the urban sprawl and the transformation of the city in a critical period of the country’s history
• New-York Manhattan (1993), passers-by in New-York
• Passing-by (Paris 1992-1993), passers-by in Paris, or the absurdity of post-modernity
• No Man’s Land (1992-1993), an exploration of two transit and somewhat abandonned “tiers-lieux” near Paris
Education • 2022 PG Certificate in Therapeutic Photography (Robert Gordon University – School of Applied Social Studies – Aberdeen)
• 2020 Master2 in Coaching and Personal Development in Organisations (Paris Panthéon-Assas University)
• 2019 Diploma in Coaching and Mentoring (level 5) - Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM UK)
• 1984 Master in Management Sciences (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University)
• Certified COF (Cultural Orientation Framework, Philippe Rosinski)
- Whatsapp / Tel: +33-6-1659-0054