Gilles Martin spent his early years in
Touraine where his father painted watercolors. Thus he learned to appreciate nature and then, to take pictures of it. At age 7, his grandfather offered him his first camera. Young teenager, he observed wildlife in the forest of
Villandry. Later on, he had to reconcile his passion for naturalistic image and his profession as dental technician. He then made his reputation thanks to his book about dragonflies, La Vie secrète des filles de l'air (published by
La Martinière), he decided to dedicate himself entirely to
nature photography. Since then, he published a dozen of books, amongst them : Photographier la nature, La Macrophotographie, Les Oiseaux du monde, Les Papillons du monde (published by La Martinière).
1989 :
First prize of the Kodak Grand reportage allowance for the exploration Expédition Thylacine in Australia.[1]
His pictures were shown in numerous exhibitions notably at the Senate in Paris in 2008 and in great festivals of natural and environmental photography.
2005 : Gilles Martin creates « L'Arche photographique » which aims to realize a global photographic inventory of endangered species. In this context, he launched five actions in support of biodiversity. The goal is to raise people awareness on threats on wildlife and encourage each and everyone of us to act for its preservation. To this day, he has travelled in 90 countries on all six continents to feed his ambitious project.[13]
2013 : Gilles Martin creates the
happeningMémoires d'un dos argenté (English : Memoirs of a Silverback) in the context of the international festival of wildlife and nature photography of Montier-en-Der[14][15][16][17][18].
2016 : Gilles Martin gets into artivism which depicts a new way to campaign for a cause. This activity allows him to paint his dreams on walls, to take pictures of his claims, to act out his beliefs.[19] During the same year, he creates the studio/gallery called Top floor studio.
2017 : He organizes a
street art campaign in New York to alert the general public of the United States to the disappearance of primates. This campaign is followed by an exhibition of street art at the Gabillet gallery[20] in the context of Ateliers mode d'emploi, and later on by a publication of a report on street art in the magazine TMV Tours.[21]
2018 : Gilles Martin publishes a portfolio on the work of artivists in the magazine Chasseur d'Images.[22][23]
Happening
Allan Kaprow, abstract painter, invented the term happening in 1957. It is described as an event or performance art which involves an active participation of the audience.
2013 : Production du happening 2027 - Mémoires d'un dos argenté (English : 2027 - Memoirs of a Silverback), dans le cadre du festival international de la photo animalière et de nature de Montier-en-Der.[14][24]
Books
1994 : Les libellules . Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Emmanuel Thévenon. Publisher : Éditions de La Martinière.
1995 : Australie continent sauvage. Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Houria Arhab et Gilles Martin. Publisher : Solar.
1996 : Australien Der fünfte Kontinent. Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Houria Arhab et Gilles Martin. Publisher : Karl Müller Verlag.
2000 : Le Poitou & Les Charentes. Photographs : Gilles Martin. Publisher :
Éditions Larousse.
2003 : Makro fotografie . Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Ronan Loaëc. Publisher : Christian Verlag.
2003 : Les oiseaux du Monde . Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Myriam Baran. Publisher : Éditions de La Martinière.
2003 : Les oiseaux du Monde. Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Myriam Baran. Publisher : Hurtubise HMH.
2004 : Les oiseaux du monde racontés aux enfants. Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Philippe J. Dubois et Valérie Guidoux. Publisher : Éditions de La Martinière jeunesse.
2005 : Birds of the World . Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Myriam Baran. Publisher : Abrams.
2005 : A Világ Madarai . Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Myriam Baran. Publisher : Alexandra Kiadó.
2005 : Birds. Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Philippe J. Dubois et Valérie Guidoux. Publisher : Abrams.
2005 : Die Welt der Vögel für Kinder erzählt. Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Philippe J. Dubois et Valérie Guidoux. Publisher : Knesebeck.
2005 : Gli uccelli raccontati ai ragazzi. Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Philippe J. Dubois et Valérie Guidoux. Publisher : L’ippocampo.
2005 : Vogels aan kinderen verteld. Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Philippe J. Dubois et Valérie Guidoux. Publisher : Lannoo.
2008 : Butterflies of the World . Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Myriam Baran. Publisher : Abrams.
2009 : Les oiseaux. Photographs : Gilles Martin. Text : Catherine Levesque. Publisher :
Éditions Milan.
Movies
2009 : Les Secrets des photographes animaliers 2. Director : Ronan Fournier-Christol. Production : Songes de Moaï.
2012 : Portrait de Gilles Martin. Director : Patrice Grange. Production :
Déclic & Clac ![25][26]
2014 : 2027 - Mémoires d'un dos argenté. Director : Gilles Martin. Production : L'Arche photographique.
References
^
abc"Image et Nature" (in French). Vol. 2. July 2006.
^"Papillons : Les couleurs de la survie". GEO (in French). Vol. 214. December 1996. pp. 130–138.
^"Dans l'intimité des nids". GEO (in French). Vol. 269. July 2001. pp. 52–58.
^"A l'affût des libellules". GEO (in French). Vol. 194. April 1995. pp. 138–148.
^"Aldabra, l'île aux trésors". GEO (in French). Vol. 211. September 1996. pp. 106–114.
^"En la intimidad de las aves". GEO (in Spanish). Vol. 197. June 2003. pp. 40–46.
^"Una libélula del Parque Natural Brenne exhibe muestras de perfecta ingeniería aérea". GEO (in Spanish). Vol. special number 03/2003. March 2003. p. 123.
^"Птички летят налево". GEO (in Russian). March 2003. pp. 112–118.
^"Стрекозы". GEO (in Russian). October 1998. pp. 100–111.
^"Libellule : le banquet des ogres". Le Figaro Magazine (in French). Vol. 14888. 4 July 1992. pp. 50–55.
^Carnets de Photographes, des bêtes et des hommes (in French). Empreinte et territoires. 2005.
^"Le Courrier de la nature" (in French). Vol. 99. October 1985. pp. 14–20.