I am a Belgian photographer (born in 1975) living and working in Luxembourg.
My goal is to explore how humans build and live their dreams, fantasies or hopes in search of a sometimes utopian ideal.
Contact: sebastien (at) sebastiencuvelier (dot) com
Philippe Marczewski wrote a beautiful text about my work published by FOMU Antwerp in .tiff 2021 magazine:
What does reality look like when it is photographed from its own
perimeter, in the uncanny zone between certainty, objectivity and
dreams, where an idealised version of the world has infiltrated?
Sébastien Cuvelier’s photography may well provide the answer.
In his images, what is real always seems larger than it actually is.
The photographs appear to have passed through a fantasy filter,
to be projected from a dimension where other rules apply. The
sensation is similar to the one felt in the twilight zone between
wakefulness and sleep, when ambiguous landscapes are crossed
in what is not quite a dream.
It is not unusual to feel a little uncomfortable when looking at his
photographs. To have the sense that one is intruding on someone
else’s secret, imaginary territory. Perhaps it’s because the people,
places and objects are made unfamiliar by certain details, yet seem
a part of daily life. A superficial mundanity, one filled with residential
blocks, interiors decorated with ostentatious luxury, ordinary streets
and gardens. And yet, our usual references are rendered obsolete.
The colours, the blurring, the inconsistencies: everything conspires
to make us doubt that these photographs portray what really exists.
Sébastien Cuvelier appears to have found the way to an observation
room that provides a mysterious and disturbing view of the human
desire to become a utopian incarnation of itself.
Solo shows
Paradise City, Centre Le Lierre, Thionville, 2023-2024
Paradise City, Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi, 2022-2023
Paradise City, Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, 2021
Paradise City, centre d’art Nei Liicht, Dudelange, 2018
Eunma Town, Galerie Nosbaum & Reding, Luxembourg, 2015
Gypsy Queens, Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej BWA, Katowice, 2015
Panginoon, Gallerie Satellite, BIP Liège, 2014
Gypsy Queens, Atelier 340 Muzeum, Brussels, 2014
Gypsy Queens, Galerie Nosbaum & Reding, Luxembourg, 2013
Group shows
Light & Truth, Cultuurcentrum, Hasselt, 2022-2023
Eunma Town, Cultuurcentrum, Hasselt, 2022-2023
Paradise City, Imago Lisboa, Lisbon, 2021
Paradise City, .tiff, FOMU, Antwerp, 2021
Paradise City, Bienne Photography Festival, Biel/Bienne, 2021
Paradise City, Visage(s) d'Europe, EUNIC/Fetart, Paris, 2021
hi/stories, mateneen, Cercle Cité, Luxembourg, 2020
Paradise City, Les Boutographies, Montpellier, 2019
Eunma Town, European Month of Photography, Luxembourg, 2019
Kuck Elei, Flux Feelings, Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles, 2017
Instant Star, 3 Songs No Flash, CarréRotondes, Luxembourg, 2014
Panginoon, Rencontres photographiques d'Arlon, 2012
Photobooks
Paradise City, GOST Books, 2020
Eunma Town, self-published, 2015
Instant Star, self-published, 2014
Gypsy Queens, Husson editions, 2013
Photobooks (commissions & residences)
H - The Notion of Humanist Photography, Kaunas Photography Gallery & Centre national de l'audiovisuel, 2022
hi/stories, mateneen, Oeuvre de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, 2020
Kuck Elei, Banque de Luxembourg, 2016
Permanent collections
Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi
Ministry of Culture, Luxembourg
Centre national de l’audiovisuel, Dudelange
Ville de Dudelange
Museum Volkenkunde, Leiden
Banque de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Awards
Residency at Kaunas Photography Gallery (mentor: Jim Goldberg), Kaunas, 2022
Selected for Futures platform, 2021
Selected for .tiff platform, FOMU Antwerp, 2021
Finalist, Lens Culture Journeys, 2020
Honorable mention from the jury, Les Boutographies, 2019
Réponses Photo award, Les Boutographies, 2019
Les Jours award, Les Boutographies, 2019
Public prize, Les Boutographies, 2019
Selected for Eddie Adams Workshop XXX, New York, 2017
Shortlisted, Kassel Fotobook Dummy Award, 2016
Shortlisted, LensCulture photobooks of the year, 2016
Shortlisted, Bourse du Talent, 2014 & 2016
Winner, Centre National de l’Audiovisuel grant, Dudelange, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019
Talks and conferences
Centre Le Lierre, Thionville, 2023
Académie des Beaux-Arts, Tamines, 2023
Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi, 2022
Artist talks by The Eyes, Paris Photo, 2022
Ecole Supérieure des Arts de l'Image Le 75, Brussels, 2022
Sint-Lukas school of photography, Brussels, 2022
Centre national de l'audiovisuel, Dudelange, 2022
Pardon my French (w/ Samuel Bollendorff), Rotondes & University of Luxembourg, 2022
Centre national de l'audiovisuel, Dudelange, 2014 & 2022
Press and publications
Paradise City
Le Soir, Nov 2022
La Libre, Oct 2022 | Voyage gigogne
Plan Cult, La Trois, RTBF (TV), Oct 2022 | Musée de la Photographie
RTBF Musiq3 (radio), Oct 2022 | Interview with Pascal Goffaux
Fisheye Magazine, March 2022 | L'Iran en héritage
Artdoc Photography Magazine, August 2021 | Where is Paradise?
American Suburb X, June 2021 | Paradise City
Photographic Museum of Humanity, May 2021 | A nuanced portrait of Iran
Contemporary Lynx, April 2021 | A respite from lockdown
Source, Spring 2021
.tiff magazine, FOMU, Mar 2021
GUP, Feb 2021 | Paradise City book review
Fisheye, Jan 2021
PHOTO magazine, Jan 2021
Paperjam, Jan 2021 | Le nouveau paradis photo de Sébastien Cuvelier
Creative Review, Oct 2020 | Sébastien Cuvelier’s photos contrast utopia and reality in Iran
Aesthetica, Oct 2020 | Paradise City
Shutterhub, Oct 2020 | Photobook favourites
Creative Boom, Oct 2020 | Paradise City: Photographs by Sébastien Cuvelier show the changing shape of Iran following its revolution
Huck Magazine, Sep 2020 | A nostalgic and evocative portrait of modern Iran
Réponses Photo, Sep 2020 | Iran, passé et présent
GUP, Aug 2020 | Paradise City
Polka, Jul 2020 | Songe d'un Eden perdu
9 Lives, Jun 2020 | L’Iran dans le viseur de Sébastien Cuvelier aux éditions Gost
Plain Magazine, Sep 2019 | In Iran, Sébastien Cuvelier unearths different versions of paradise
Réponses Photo, Jun 2019 | Paradise City portfolio & interview
Woxx, May 2019 | Regards d'ailleurs et d'ici | pdf
Actu.fr, May 2019 | Boutographies de Montpellier : Sébastien Cuvelier fait un festival
Fisheye magazine, May 2019 | 19e édition des Boutographies
Réponses Photo, May 2019 | Les Boutographies annoncent les deux lauréats de cette 19e édition
En Revenant de l'Expo, May 2019 | Boutographies 2019 au Pavillon Populaire, Montpellier
Le Midi-Libre, May 2019 | Les "Bouto" au coeur de l'Europe
Le Quotidien, May 2018 | La quête du paradis
Luxembourger Wort, May 2018 | A chacun son paradis
Eunma Town
Littor, Feb 2017 | Littor(릿터)4호
M Le Monde, Jan 2017 | Cité étudiante | Eunma Town, le très cher quartier de Séoul
Dérivations, Sep 2016 | Eunma Town
Urbanautica, Apr 2016 | Eunma Town
Polka, Mar 2016 | Eunma Town
SBS, Feb 2016 | web
Lensculture, Jan 2016 | Photobooks of the Year, Part II: 24 Personal Favorites
Actuphoto, Dec 2015 | Eunma Town, le rêve coréen 100% béton
Kyunghyang Shinmun, Nov 2015 | [사진 속으로]은마 아파트
Paperjam, Sep 2015 | Raconter l'histoire du rêve coréen
Archiduc, Sep 2015 | Le rêve coréen de Sébastien Cuvelier
Bold, Sep 2015 | Eunma Town
Gypsy Queens
Slate, Jan 2016 | Inside the Fabulous Homes of “Gypsy Queens”
Click.ro, Jan 2016 | Casele luxoase ale ţiganilor din România, prin ochii unui străin
Der Greif, Apr 2014 | Gypsy Queens
Nuage/Soleil, Apr 2014 | Riches et Roms
Actuphoto, Jan 2014 | Gypsy Queens, le royaume de Sébastien Cuvelier aux éditions Husson
Luxemburger Wort, Sep 2013 | Mémoire intime et Roms riches
d'Lëtzebuerger Land, Sep 2013 | Tablo | Queens of Buzescu | Queens of Buzescu (web)
Zeitung vum Lëtzebuerger Vollek, Sep 2013 | Expo Nosbaum Reding
Instant Star
Goûte Mes Disques (BE), Oct 2014 | Instant Star, ou la musique en mode Polaroid
d'Lëtzebuerger Land (LU), Aug 2014 | Fading In / Fading Out
Le Jeudi (LU), Aug 2014 | Interprétations d'une contrainte
La Meuse (BE), Aug 2014 | Une expo et un livre
Panginoon
Galerie Satellite, 2022 | 10 ans, 50 photographes
Budhi, Ateneo de Manila University, 2010
