Born in November 1954 in Midongy-du-Sud, on the east coast of Madagascar, Pierrot Men lives and works in Fianarantsoa, where he runs the city’s largest photographic laboratory, “Labo Men”. His relationship with photography dates back to 1974, when he opened his first laboratory. However, from then on and for many years, photography was nothing more than a simple (artistic and financial) support for his first passion, painting. This situation lasted for 17 years, between passport photos, batheme and weddings, until the day a friend made a frank statement that changed the course of his artistic activity: she told him straight out that the photographs he used as a basis for his paintings were much better than their pictorial results. This led him to abandon the easel and devote himself solely to photography.

The results were not long in coming: in 1994, he won the Mother Jones competition in San Francisco, and the prize was a Leïca, which he has carried with him ever since. It was the start of a reputation that now extends far beyond the borders of the Big Island. Pierrot Men’s photographic work has won several awards (Winner of the “Mother Jones International Fund Documentary Photography” competition, Leica Prize, San Francisco, 1994, UNEP/Canon prize in 2000 and more) and has been the subject of numerous exhibitions and publications.

Photographer: Pierrot Men @pierrotmen – pierrotmen.com

All photographs copyright Pierrot Men. REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED, means that the resale and reproduction, even partial, in any manner and form, of Pierrot Men’ photographs are prohibited. Anyone wishing to use the contents must have to ask in any case written authorization to Pierrot Men.