Muriel Pénicaud, photographer
Author, speaker, business leader and committed woman
Self-portrait, 2024, India
Her passion for photography began at the age of 11 with a black and white Polaroid, where she discovered the art of framing and composition. At 23, a striking encounter with censorship revealed to her the power of images and their impact. Since then, she has combined her photographic practice with her social and professional commitments.
Inspired by Henri Cartier-Bresson's maxim, « "To photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart."», Muriel Pénicaud demonstrates a profoundly humanistic approach. Through her lens, she captures fleeting moments, reveals invisible beauty, embraces the world's contradictions, awakens the imagination, and creates a deep connection between the viewer and the image.
Her photographs, whether of a bird in flight, the depth of a gaze, the meaning of a gesture, the soul of trees, or the liberation of women, reflect her quest for wonder and her social commitment. Her piezography prints reveal deep blacks from which light emerges.
Muriel Pénicaud has been exhibiting internationally since 2017, notably in Paris, Tokyo, and Beijing. Through series such as Wind under the Wings, Wind into the Soul, and Wind into the Roots, she explores powerful themes such as origins, roots, nature, freedom, and the search for meaning.
In 2024, the Collège des Bernardins in Paris dedicated a monographic exhibition to her, Matrice des mondes(Matrice of Worlds). She also participated in the Photo Days festival in Paris, where her work was exhibited at We Are. That same year, the prestigious Skira publishing house released her first monograph, Matrice des Mondes, with a preface by photographer REZA. The book brings together 150 photographs and highlights her humanistic and poetic practice, offering a curious, sensitive, and committed perspective. It explores three primordial forces: the earth (trees), the sky (birds), and humanity (women), the original matrices that our species needs to survive and regenerate.
Winner of the 2024 Julia Margaret Cameron Award for her photograph Qui es-tu, toi qui regardes ? (Who are you, you who are watching?) as well as several international awards, in 2025 her work inspired nine artisans who reinterpreted it through their craftsmanship, giving rise to a collective and an exhibition entitled Qui es-tu ? Polyphonie née d’une photographie (Who are you? Polyphony born from a photograph). That same year, she continued to promote her work internationally with exhibitions at the Museum of Photography in Saint-Louis (Senegal), the Amarrage Gallery and the Salon De Main de Maître in Paris, as well as in Pondicherry, Barcelona, Athens, and Hyderabad, where she participated inthe Indian Photo Festival.
In March 2026, the Civico Museo Parisi Valle in Maccagno will devote all of its spaces to In Cielo, In Terra, the first major monographic exhibition dedicated to Muriel Pénicaud in Italy, bringing together nearly seventy works over a period of three months.
Beyond her photography practice, Muriel Pénicaud is president of the jury for three photography competitions (Immersion/s des métiers d'art exhibition, Regard - La Puissance du Lien prize, Trophées Photo Jeunes d'avenir "Imagine ton avenir" competition). She is the author of several books, including Engagée (Humensis, 2023), an essay on her personal and professional commitment, and Travailler Demain (Glénat, 2025), a documentary-fiction on the future of work in the form of a graphic novel.
She is also the founder and president of the Sakura Foundation, dedicated to supporting emerging artists committed to societal issues.
A former Minister of Labor, ambassador, and CEO, she continues her commitment to women, youth, and the arts, convinced that art has the power to connect people, open minds, and fuel the imagination.
« Photography is my way of understanding the world, sharing my disbelief, distancing myself from violence, warding off nothingness, transforming my shock into enchantment, and igniting wonder. My dream is that the viewer becomes the narrator of their own story, soaring on the wings of the photograph they are looking at. Photography sharpens our gaze. It makes our relationship with the world more intense, richer, more beautiful, and more astonishing. In it, we share our dreams, our anxieties, our tales, and our imaginations. Photography changes our perspective. It is beautiful because it is accessible to all, simple in its gesture, capable of capturing the essence of a moment and transforming it into a trace of eternity. Photography invites us, modestly, if only for a moment, to let our senses vibrate and to enter together into the clearing of a more open and profound humanity. »
Solo Exhibitions
2026 (coming soon)
In Cielo, In Terra, Parisi Valle Civic Museum, Maccagno, Italy
2025
Shaping the Future - Matrice des Mondes, with the Citronne Gallery, Hellenic American University, Athens, Greece
The Shadow of Your Dreams, MuPho - Photography Museum of Saint-Louis and MuPho La Galerie, Dakar, Senegal
The Flight, Galerie Amarrage, Saint-Ouen, France
Deep Heights, Kalinka Gallery, Pondicherry, India
Wind into the Roots, The Spot, Pondicherry, India
2024
Matrix of Worlds, Photo Days Festival, We Are, Paris, France
Matrix of Worlds, Collège des Bernardins, Paris, France
2017
Wind under the Wings, Vallis Clausa Gallery, Vaucluse, France
Wind under the Wings, Unicorn Gallery, Beijing, China
Wind under the Wings, French Institute Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Wind under the Wings, Deyrolle Bookstore, Paris, France
Group Exhibitions
2025
Matrix of Worlds, Indian Photo Festival, Hyderabad, India
Games of Hands, Salon Immersion/s of exceptional arts and crafts (at FAFCEA), Paris, France
Matrix of Worlds, Exhibition of the Julia Margaret Cameron Award winners, FotoNostrum, Barcelona, Spain
Human at Work, Salon De Main de Maître, French Confederation of Artistic Crafts – CFMA, Bastille Design Center, Paris, France
2024
Salon Immersion/s of exceptional arts and crafts (at FAFCEA), Paris, France
2023
Wind into the Roots, Conversations Exhibition, Maison Laurentine, Aubepierre-sur-Aube, France
2019
Wind into the Soul, Galerie des passions, Sculptures en l’île Festival, Andrésy, France
2018
Wind under the Wings, Galerie des passions, Sculptures en l’île Festival, Andrésy, France
2017
Wind under the Wings, Ordinary Exhibition of Disaster / Permanence of Joy, L’Expédition, Châteauvillain, France
Awards
2025
The Builder – Honorable Mention, Architecture Category, MonoVisions Photography Awards
Eruption – Honorable Mention, Abstract Category, MonoVisions Photography Awards
Who are you, watching? – Honorable Mention, Nature and Wildlife Category, MonoVisions Photography Awards
2024
Overall Global Winner, Julia Margaret Cameron Award
Who are you, you who are watching? – Bronze Trophy, nature category, reFocus Awards
Endless – Honorable Mention, architecture category, reFocus Awards
As a family – Honorable Mention, street category, reFocus Awards
Homo Numericus – Winner of the “World's Largest Photo Competition” 2024-2025, graphic design category, PHOTO magazine
Publication
2024
Matrix of Worlds / Matrix of Worlds, photographic monograph, Skira editions, with an introduction by photographer, author and philanthropist REZA and Rachel Deghati, author and exhibition curator, and a preface by Maria Cristina Madau, artistic director.
Other
2025
Chair of the jury for the Avenirs Youth Photography Awards – "Imagine your future"
President of the jury for the photography prize Regard – The Power of Connection.
2024
President of the jury for the photographic competition of the Immersion/s trade fair for exceptional crafts