Laurent Elie Badessi is a Franco-American fine art photographer. He belongs to a family with three generations of photographers. From an early age, this enabled him to explore and appreciate the art of photography. After obtaining a M.A. in Photography at Université Paris VIII, Badessi moved to the United-States. Badessi uses symbolism, mythology, historical and cultural references to create his images. His work often addresses subtle and relevant questions on social, political, and cultural issues, such as the relationship with religion, war or the environment. His photographs are part of many important private and public collections, the Sondra Gilman Collection, the Henry Buhl Collection, the Whitney Museum and the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne just to name a few. Badessi has received several prestigious awards, including a grant from the French Department of Cultural Affairs for his Paris show Métamorphoses. A large-scale photograph from his latest series “Age of Innocence” was recently exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London. A book of the same name was internationally released this year by Edition Images Plurielles. Solo and group shows of his work have taken place around the world in major cities like New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami, London, Milan, Rome, Paris, Nice, Barcelona, Kuwait City, Beijing, Monaco and Dubai. Laurent Elie Badessi lives in New York. SELECTED COLLECTIONS: Whitney Museum New York, The Gilman & Gonzales-Falla Collection, Sir Elton John Collection, The Buhl Collection, The Danforth Museum of Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville Fl., Bibliothèque Nationale de France Paris, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Les Arts Décoratifs-Musée de la Publicité Paris, Barry Diller, Dr. Daniel Baker, Dr. Pier-Luigi Gibelli, Jorge Perez, Karl Lagerfeld, Pierre Cardin, The Related Group, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Royal Caribbean.