Exhibition

From October 10 to November 15, 2025, the Françoise Livinec Gallery will devote an exhibition to the photographic work of Matthieu Ricard, on the occasion of the release of his book Lumière, published by Allary Éditions. Sixty photographs, including previously unseen images, will retrace more than half a century of meditative life.

The artist will donate the proceeds from the sale of his photographs to his humanitarian association Karuna-Shechen.

At the age of 12, Matthieu Ricard received his first camera, and already light was at the heart of his practice. He found his subjects in glimmers, reflections, and shadows. A few years later, fascinated by nature where he thrived fully, he observed and captured it in images alongside his friend André Fratas, a pioneer of wildlife photography in France. His photographs were soon published in the magazines Réalités and Connaissance de la campagne.

His journeys in the Himalayas, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet opened new perspectives for him. To the magnificent landscapes and details of nature, he added faces—the faces of his spiritual masters. “A photograph is the fruit of an osmosis between what I discover […] and the medium of light. It is this light, emitted or reflected by beings and things, that touches the heart. And I seize it on the fly, before it vanishes, for these moments of grace—a figure crossing a ray of sunlight, the illumination of a smile, or the reflection of dawn on a snowy peak—often last no longer than the time it takes to raise a hand.”