Valentin Valette is an independant photographer, artist, and visual anthropology researcher, born in 1994 in the Atlantic-Pyrenees, into a French and Algerian family background. Based between Paris and the French Pyrenees. Open to collaborations both nationally and internationally. valette.valentin11@gmail.com 𝑇𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑐 Education 2023–2024 PhD Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology (IDEAS), Aix-Marseille University, and the Research Institute on Contemporary Maghreb (IRMC), Tunis – Currently on hold. 2020–2021 Master’s Degree – Sciences Po Aix-en-Provence Political Dynamics and Societal Change Arab and Muslim World Studies. 2019–2020 Master’s Degree – CIFE European Institute European Institute for Advanced International Studies Mediterranean Studies – Nice, Tunis, Istanbul. Trained in the social sciences and humanities at the European Institute (2019–2020) and Sciences Po Aix-en-Provence (2020–2021), he develops a practice that bridges research and artistic creation, using the image as a means of engaging with reality. Between (2021–2023), he worked with the CNRS in Tunis on research-based visual projects, before entering a PhD in visual anthropology at IDEAS – IRMC (2023–2024). Shaped by his doctoral research on his Algerian family’s exile, his work explores processes of displacement — both voluntary and forced — and their impact on community ties, forms of belonging, and memories linked to places of origin. Alongside this, he develops an ongoing visual investigation into social, political, and economic transformations in the Persian Gulf, focusing on the effects of large-scale state development programs. This research takes form in Ashes of the Arabian’s Pearl (2021–2024), the first chapter produced in the Sultanate of Oman, with the book forthcoming from Éditions Basaltes (2026). The project was nominated for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (2024) and has received several distinctions, including the The Eyes Wide Open publishing grant (2025), the Sony World Photography Award (2025), the LensCulture New Visions Photography Awards (2025), the Foto Calabria Festival (2025), the Prix des Agents Associés (2024), Art Photo Barcelona (2025), and the Prix Image Satellite in Nice (2024), among others. His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Musée de la Photographie Charles Nègre in Nice (2024), Galerie Madé in Paris (2025), Galerie Ginza in Tokyo (2025), the Rencontres Photographiques de Bamako (2024), the Tallinn International Photography Fair (2024), Art Photo Barcelona (2026), and Somerset House in London (2026), among others. Since (2024), his practice has unfolded through personal projects, commissioned work, and collaborations with brands, institutions, research programs, NGOs, and private actors. In this context, he has paused his PhD to focus fully on his visual practice and field-based projects. After several years in Tunisia, he returned to France and is developing Vert Tige (2027–2028), an artistic residency and studio project dedicated to image-making in the Pyrenees. He now divides his time between this region, collaborations in Paris, international assignments, and personal projects across North Africa and the Gulf. Since (2026), he has been a member of the FUTURE(S) Photography European network, represented by the Centre photographique de Rouen Normandie. Alongside his practice, he has been curating since (2015) the African photographic archive of Jean Depara (1950–1970), in collaboration with the artist’s estate.