Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Through his camera lens, photographer Gérard Uféras offers a rarified backstage pass to the world’s top operas, ballets and fashion shows. Described as a storyteller and magician, Uféras shoots contemporary, figurative photographs that evoke sensuality, mystery, elegance and grace, with a rich sense of humanism.
Born in Paris, in 1954, Uféras was introduced to photography at the tender age of eight, when he began using his father’s cameras. At 11 years old, he was a regular visitor to Paris’s museums, soaking in all aspects of the arts, culture and history.
Although Uféras’s passion for photography began at an early age, it wasn’t until he was 28 — when he was working in a retail shop selling jeans — that he decided to pursue it as a professional career. “I simply didn’t know what I was doing with my life,” he has said. “For a few years at that point, I had a job that didn’t bring me any joy. . . . I realized that if I don’t do something to change my life, I will die working in that shop, so it was really a ‘matter of life’ decision.”
Despite being largely self-taught, Uféras’s natural photographic talent soon caught the eyes of French newspaper editors. He began his career as a photojournalist in 1984, working for the daily Libération, and in 1986, he became a founding member of the VU photo agency. Then, in 1988, Uféras’s watershed moment came when he was invited backstage to photograph at The Palais Garnier. Since then, he has captured stunning portraits and still-lifes at opera houses and ballet performances across Europe.
Similarly, Uféras has been given carte-blanche access to major fashion houses such as Givenchy and Dior, resulting in beautifully shot, candid photographs of unposed models.
Throughout his career, Uféras’s black-and-white and color photographs have been featured in numerous international publications, including Le Monde, the New York Times, Beaux Arts magazine, Paris Match and L’Express. His works are in the collections in several major museums, such as The National Gallery in London, the Musée de l’Elysée (Photo Elysée) in Lausanne, the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris.
On 1stDibs, find a range of Gérard Uféras photography.
Late 20th Century Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
Late 20th Century Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin
1990s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
1990s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
Early 2000s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
1990s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin
21st Century and Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
1990s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin
Early 2000s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
1990s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin
1980s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Paper, Archival Paper, Photographic Film
1990s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Archival Pigment
1960s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigme...
1960s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
1960s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
1960s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigme...
1990s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Photographic Paper, Photographic Film, Silver Gelatin
1980s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Paper, Photographic Film
1950s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
1950s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigme...
Early 2000s Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Gérard Uféras Figurative Photography
Plexiglass, Archival Pigment