Agnès Dherbeys – Profile

Agnès Dherbeys is a Bangkok-based 35-year-old French photographer. She graduated with honours from the Master of Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Politics) of Lyon and from master 2 of Sciences of Information and Communication from Celsa, Sorbonne IV. 
She learned photography when she moved to Bangkok in 2001, and has since mainly focused her work in Nepal, East Timor, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand, with some parentheses in the Palestinian Territories/Israel.

After covering the devastation caused by the Tsunami in Thailand, she returned over the year to follow the tale of the life of the survivors, and the reconstruction in Phang Nga, North of Phuket. With this body of work, she was finalist for the ‘Bourse du Talent 2005 and her essay has also been published in the book ‘Tsunami’, along with other photographers who covered the catastrophe.

In November 2005, she won the Foundation Lagardere grant for photography, which allowed her to work on her project in East Timor
. This essay, “East Timor, the crushed dreams of independency” was exhibited in Visa pour l’Image, France 2007 and in April 2008 in FotoFreo, WA, Australia.

She won Second Prize Spot News story in World Press Photo 2007 Contest with her story on the popular uprising against King Gyanendra in Nepal, which was exhibited in “Les Rencontres de Siem Rep”, Cambodia in 2007.

In 2008, Agnes was finalist for the CARE award and finalist for the Visa d’Or Magazine, with her project on AIDS temple in Thailand in Visa pour l’Image. Also, she was one of the 12 participants to the Joop Swart Masterclass 2008 of the World Press Photo (Balance).

Her 2010 coverage of the Red Shirts unrest in Thailand last April and May 2010, was exhibited at the Bangkok Art Cultural Center in RUPTURE exhibition, curated by Olivier Pin. With this body of work, published in the New York Times, she recently was awarded THE ROBERT CAPA GOLD MEDAL AWARD of the OPC, for “Best published photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise”.

Dherbeys is currently photographing French band Limousine recording of their Third album, immerged in the universe of Molaam music in North East Thailand. The project is funded by l’Institut Français, Agnes B, Factory Festival, among others.

(From Foundry Photojournalism Workshop)

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