COLLAPSE

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Photographer

Olivier Lavenac
Prize

3rd Place / Special/AI Generated Images
Jury Top 5 Selection

Miriam Leuchter This series has a consistent and unified vision, despite the singularity and almost randomness of each of the images in it. It's an excellent edit of strong work that gains in power as a collection.
Date of Photograph

2025
Website

https://olivierlavenac.com

“ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE.” Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto III. I created this series after a trip to San Francisco. Trump was set to return to power, David Lynch had just passed, and downtown SF was still vivid in my mind — where obscene wealth faced poverty and addiction without ever touching. While L.A. burned, fears about AI kept rising. In that climate, the series took shape: a dreamlike, fractured portrait of America, a distant echo of Dante and Virgil’s descent into the underworld. A collapse. Full series (55 images) available on my website.

Biography

I teach theater and visual arts in French Polynesia, after having spent ten years working in priority education zones in northern France and on the outskirts of Lyon. Photography, to me, is another language — a way of connecting differently with the people I photograph. I’m especially drawn to portraying adolescents: at this pivotal age, their authenticity, and the blend of strength and vulnerability in their expressions, deeply moves me.
Awards

Portrait of Britain 2024 Award by 1854 and British Journal of Photography, winner Portrait of Humanity 2023 Award by 1854 and British Journal of Photography, shortlisted LensCulture Portrait Photography Awards 2023, Editors’ Pick, finalist LensCulture Art Photography Awards 2023, Editors’ Pick Life Framer Editors’ Pick in “Youth” category, 2023 Life Framer Editors’ Pick in “Humans of the World” category, 2023 Life Framer Editors’ Pick in “Street Life” category, 2022 Booooooom Photo Awards 2022, shortlisted International Photography Awards 2022, Honorable Mention in “Deeper Perspective” category