Yan MORVAN* – Sitdown

Yan MORVAN

Bikers

Widely respected by the journalistic milieu for his fearless independance, Morvan chose to photograph these youths in vivid close-up. Nevertheless, he maintains a neutral distance between photographer and photographee, making no attempt to judge or impose a single viewpoint.

To make this series, which captures the tensions and rivalry of gang warfare, Morvan implicated himself to the extent where he put himself in physical danger.

These rare images from the « Blousons Noirs « series remain an outstanding sociological testmony.

Blousons noirs. Rockers et Teddy Boys à la casse de Montreuil ... (1975) Yan Morvan - Gangs - galerie Sit Down — Blousons noirs. Rockers et Teddy Boys à la casse de Montreuil ... (1975) ©Yan Morvan courtesy galerie Sit Down

Untitled, from the ‘Blousons Noirs’ series (1975) Yan Morvan - bikers - galerie Sit Down — Untitled, from the ‘Blousons Noirs’ series (1975) ©Yan Morvan courtesy galerie Sit Down

Série Blousons noirs Nogent sur Marne, 1977 tirage 1994 /95 88 x 59 cm © courtesy galerie Sit Down — Série Blousons noirs Nogent sur Marne, 1977 tirage 1994 :95 88 x 59 cm ©Yan Morvan courtesy galerie Sit Down

Yan Morvan
Blousons noirs #11
Blousons noirs
signé et daté au verso
tirage argentique de 1995
15,2 x 23 cm — Blousons noirs #11 ©Yan Morvan courtesy galerie Sit Down

Gangs

“Gangs” is the ethnographic narration of the gangs who reigned supreme in the suburbs of 1970’s Paris. Yan went out and conducted a real investigation, dedicating himself to this work for almost forty years. The images are the tale of a shared history, the story of the youth evolving in a microcosm governed by codes and peculiar rules. From the rockers’ black leather jackets in the 70’s to the Blacks Dragoons of the noughties, those who find themselves in these ‘anti-societies’ express themselves in order to find their place, status and recognition. The progression of these gangs is also linked to cultural phenomena: the rock and punk scenes of the 70’s and 80’s made way for American hip-hop and rap culture in the 90’s.

Anarchy in the UK

The negatives of this series have just been rediscovered by the photographer. They had been kept at home, buried in a box called “England” since the 1980s.
When Yan Morvan arrived for the first time in London in November 1979, he discovered bands of crested Punks, Nazified Skinheads, Rude Boys and Hooligans on a war path, Mods perched on their scooters. The photographer’s gaze is presented with a vast open-air theater whose actors seem to come out of A Clockwork Orange, with the millenarian grotesquerie of a Jerome Bosch. In the streets, unproductive young people are scurrying about in boisterous flocks, intending to respond to despair with vitality, to whom boredom seems much worse than suffering…
These pictures reveal the essence of an emotionally jealous England which intends to forever recycle a glorious past, and also which, in the convulsions of one of the worst crises in its history, is looking for a reason to exist.
(Based on a text by Francis Dordor)

Bobby Sands

Yan Morvan was, at the time, a freelance photographer for the Sipa press agency, one of the three major photographic press agencies in Paris during the 1980s. He had the profile of a determined, daredevil young reporter, well-suited to cover the riots taking place in Northern Ireland. He was naturally sent to the clashes in Londonderry in April 1981. He stayed there for three weeks and returned several times that same year.

“Those weeks I spent in Derry and Belfast, living with the rioters in Catholic neighborhoods, photographing the tension, despair, faith, and courage of the Irish people—using the camera as a weapon serving their cause—forever convinced me of the vital role of photographic testimony as a tool for memory, emotion, and reflection, as guarantees of a free and democratic world.” — Yan Morvan

The Green Line, Lebanon

From 1982 to 1985, Yan Morvan documented the war in Lebanon as he experienced it, never taking sides or favoring any of the parties involved in the conflict.

He sought to portray the key episodes of this major conflict as faithfully as possible.
In parallel, he produced a striking reportage using a large-format view camera on the “Green Line,” the no-man’s land that separated East and West Beirut.

For nearly forty-five days, Yan Morvan walked this desolate line on the western side. From the mountains down to the port, street by street, house by house, he met the protagonists of this bloody vein and took their portraits using a 4×5 inch view camera.
On the stand will be presented large-format cibachrome prints from the 1990s, including a unique print (the negative having been lost) of a profoundly dignified portrait of Hayat Khorbotli.

Information request

Exhibitions

2016

Blousons noirs

Galerie Huit, Arles

04.07.2022 – 14.01.2023

2014

Gangs

Galerie SIT DOWN

25.01.2014 – 22.02.2014

Biography

Yan Morvan was born in Paris in 1954. After studying mathematics and then cinema, he began reporting on the Hells Angels in Paris, followed by a project on sex workers in Bangkok. In 1974, his first photograph was published in the daily Libération. Until 1976, he worked with Libération’s photo agency Fotolib, then with the Norma agency. That same year, his first book on rockers, Le Cuir et le Baston (“Leather and Fights”), was published—the beginning of a 20-year-long project on gangs. He then joined the teams of Paris Match and Le Figaro Magazine until 1980.

From 1980 to 1988, he joined the Sipa agency and became the permanent correspondent for the American weekly Newsweek, covering the major conflicts of the time: Iran-Iraq, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Rwanda, Kosovo… and even Lady Diana’s wedding, with one of his photographs circulating around the world. Since 1988, he worked as an independent photographer. Recognized as one of the greatest war photographers, he collaborated regularly with most major international publications.

His war reporting earned him the Robert Capa Award (for his work in Lebanon in 1983), two World Press Photo awards, and numerous prizes awarded by American journalism schools.

Sharing his notoriety and experience with younger generations, he taught at the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie (ENSP) in Arles, and at the Centre de Formation des Journalistes (CFJ) in Paris. In 2000, his portrait series of young road accident victims—commissioned by the FNAC (National Contemporary Art Fund)—was exhibited at the international photojournalism festival Visa pour l’Image. Since 2004, he continued to produce in-depth reports, focusing on suburban areas and victims of war or road violence.

Today, Yan Morvan is considered one of the greatest French photojournalists. His many scoops earned him international recognition and acclaim—but also brought him serious danger: in Lebanon, he was sentenced to death twice and narrowly escaped both times. In France, his investigative work for Libération and Paris Match on gangs led to his kidnapping and torture for three weeks by the serial killer Guy Georges.

The photographer passed away in 2024. He leaves behind a major and essential body of work—vital for understanding social violence, armed conflicts, and the often-invisible faces of our time. His archives are now preserved and managed by his sons, who ensure the continuation and dissemination of his legacy.

Press

2014

Les Inrockuptibles, 07/02/14, “Yan Morvan”

Street-tease, 06/02/14, “Gangs story : les clichés de Yan Morvan exposés à la galerie Sit Down”

Libération, 12/02/14, “Gangs story”

Modzik, 15/02/14, “Qui a déjà vu un Bad Boy sans son bomber ?”

The teenage kicks preservation society, 15/02/14, “Yan Morvan : Gangs, @ Galerie SIT DOWN, Paris”

Libération, 12/02/14, “Yan Morvan, bandes toujours”

Les Inrock Style,14/02/14, “Yan Morvan, photographe de gangs : « Ils se battaient à coups de chaîne pour s’affirmer en tant qu’hommes »

Vice France, “YAN MORVAN – « Gangs » // Galerie SIT DOWN // Du 25 janvier au 22 février”