Yann Lenzen (b. 1995) is a French traveler, photographer, and documentary filmmaker focusing on social, environmental, and political issues.
Based in Montreal (Quebec), he has traveled across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, while avoiding air travel whenever possible. At the age of 21, he traveled overland from France to China (2017–2018), an initiatory journey that sparked his passion for writing and photography.
After completing a Bachelor’s degree in English and German civilizations (2013–2016), he pursued graduate studies in Political Science and International Law (2019–2021). His Master’s thesis, dedicated to the history of humanitarian photography in Africa, led him to reflect deeply on the power relations embedded in the use of the photographic medium when representing historically marginalized populations. A theoretical detour that would later strengthen the ethical foundations of his fieldwork.
An advocate of participant observation, he takes time to integrate into human communities, cultivating mutual trust as an essential condition for producing meaningful imagery and gathering testimonies. Out of this proximity emerges an intimate visual language, articulated through wide-angle photographs. The use of black and white brings unity to diverse places and lighting conditions, underscoring the resonance of the issues beyond borders.
Earlier projects combined still images and text, resulting in several publications and exhibitions. Since 2023, his artistic practice has evolved toward a multimedia form that integrates video and sound. A dialogue between photography and documentary film, blending sensory exploration of the land, ethnographic insight, and audiovisual poetry.
A Drop in the Ocean (2025), his first mid-length film, recounts a sailing journey across the Atlantic. A poetic logbook exploring slowness, contemplation, and a generation’s concern about the impact of travel on the planet. The film is currently being submitted to festivals and will be released soon (trailer). He also composed the original soundtrack, separately released as the EP Murmures du large.
His latest project explores the social and environmental impacts of mining, industrial, and energy operations encroaching on the ancestral lands of Indigenous peoples across the Americas. Shot in collaboration with three communities between 2023 and 2025 (in French Guiana, Peru, and Quebec) the project will culminate in a mid-length documentary to be released in 2026.
All enquiries: yann.lenzen@outlook.com ; +1 (438)-932-6502 ; Whatsapp : +33 6 80 37 49 42
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Publications
– Orion Magazine (USA) : February 2023
– Youth Lens of the Silk Roads 2nd ed – UNESCO (2021)
– The Best of Lensculture Vol. 4 (2020)
– C41 Magazine (Italy) : March 2019
– Edge of Humanity Magazine (USA) : March 2019
– Ouest France (France) : August 2018, February 2019, March 2019
– Ze.tt (Germany) : April 2018
– B&W Minimalism Magazine (Iran) : February 2018
Awards
– Monovisions Black & White Photography Awards, category Photojournalism, Honorable mention (2024)
– Youth eyes on the Silk Roads (UNESCO), finalist (2020)
– La preuve par l’image (ACFAS), finalist (2020)
– London International Creative Competition (LICC), Honorable mention (February 2020)
– Lensculture, Black & White Photography Awards, Juror’s Pick (December 2019)
– Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA), Honorable Mention (December 2019)
– The Independent Photographer, Travel Photo Award, Editors’ Picks (August 2019)
– Atout Sud Photo Festival contest : 1st prize (France, April 2019)
– International Photography Awards, category People/Culture, Honorable Mention (October 2018)
– The Independent Photographer, Travel Photo Award, Editors’ Picks (July 2018)
– The Independent Photographer, Street Photography Award, Editors’ Picks (February 2018)
Exhibitions
– Festival Photo Atout Sud, 10th edition (France) : March 13th – April 11rd 2020.
– La Cale 2 Créateurs (Nantes, France) : July 6th – September 1st 2019. Group exhibition “Moments of life”
– Festival Photo Atout Sud (France) : March 15th – April 13rd 2019. “Young talent” of the 9th edition of the festival.
– Label Escale (Nantes, France) : February 13rd – 28th 2019. Extracts from the exhibition below.
– POL’n – Centre de compétences artistiques et culturelles (Nantes, France) : February 1st – 8th 2019. “Direction l’Orient en stop” : solo exhibition recounting my year-long overland journey from France to China.
Education
2019 – 2021 : Master of Arts (M.A.) in Political Science (international politics and international law), Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
2013 – 2016 : Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Modern Languages: English and German, Université de Nantes, France and exchange programmes at Georg-August Universität Göttingen, Germany and The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
