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 embodies a deeply humanistic approach. Through her lens, she captures fleeting moments, reveals hidden beauty, reconciles the world’s contradictions, sparks the imagination, and creates a deep connection between the viewer and the image.
His gaze reveals the invisible and captures the ephemeral—those fleeting moments of poetry found in everyday life. His photographs—whether depicting a bird taking flight, the depth of a gaze, the meaning of a gesture, the soul of trees, or women’s liberation—bear witness to his quest for wonder and his social commitment. His 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*, *Wind into the Roots*, *Wind into the Heart*, *Life is Red*, *Touch & Feel*, *Human at Work*, and, more recently, *Symbiosis*, she explores universal themes such as origins, roots, nature, freedom, and the search for meaning.
In 2024, the Collège des Bernardins in Paris dedicated a solo exhibition to her, titled *Matrice des mondes*. 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 an introduction by photographer Reza. The book brings together 150 photographs and highlights her humanistic and poetic practice, offering a perspective that is at once curious, sensitive, and committed. It explores three primordial forces—the earth (trees), the sky (birds), and humanity (women)—the original matrix of many civilizations, which our species needs to survive and regenerate.
Winner of the 2024 Julia Margaret Cameron Prize for her photograph *Who Are You, O Beholder?* as well as several international awards, her work inspired artisans in 2025 to reinterpret it through their craftsmanship, giving rise to a collective and an exhibition titled *Who Are You? Polyphony Born from a Photograph*. That same year, she continued to showcase her work internationally with exhibitions at the Saint-Louis Museum of Photography (Senegal), the Galerie Amarrage, 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 dedicated its entire exhibition space to *In Cielo, In Terra*, Muriel Pénicaud’s first major solo exhibition in Italy, which featured nearly seventy works over a three-month period. That same year, she exhibited through October at the Nouvel Art Showroom in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue alongside sculptor Jaana Myöhänen and presented *Femme Espoir* at We Are Lille (May–September). At the Festival Off d’Arles, she presented *Fibre du monde*, a series on women in India, alongside photographers Elvira & James Vil and their series on Madagascar. Beginning October 1, she unveiled *Au temps du temps*, a Japanese-themed traveling exhibition at we are_ in Paris (through December).
In addition to her work as a photographer, Muriel Pénicaud serves as jury chair for three photography competitions: the Immersion/s des métiers d'art fair, the La Puissance du Lien award presented by Sakura, and the Trophées Photo Jeunes d'Avenirs “Imagine Your Future” competition. She is the author of several books, including her latest essay, *Engagée* (Humensis, 2023), about her personal and professional commitment, and *Travailler demain* (Glénat, 2025), a docu-fiction work on the future of work in the form of a graphic novel.
A former French Minister of Labor, ambassador, and business executive, she continues her work on behalf of women, youth, and the arts. Convinced that art is a powerful catalyst for change, she is also the founder and president of the Sakura Endowment Fund, established in 2012, which is dedicated to supporting emerging artists engaged with social issues.
« 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
In the Days of Yore, Japanese Itinerancy, we are_, Paris
Fibre du monde, with Elvira and James Vil, Festival Off d’Arles, France
Woman, Hope, we are_, Lille
Fleeting Moments, with Jaana Myöhänen, Nouvel VAG, L’isle-sur-la-sorgue
In Cielo, In Terra, Civico Museo Parisi Valle, 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
2026
Who Are You?, Salon Immersion/s: Exhibition of Exceptional Artistic Crafts (at FAFCEA), Paris, France
Who Are You?, Maison Bucherer, Paris, France
Funny Birds, Ingwiller Town Hall, Alsace, France
Who Are You?, Salon De Main de Maître, French Confederation of Arts and Crafts (CFMA), Bastille Design Center, Paris, France
Who Are You?, Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg Hotel, Paris, France
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