BDC Photobook Conversations

BDC Photobook Conversations


Sunday

May 10, 2020 | 3:30pm

 

As part of our virtual BDC Photobook Conversations series, photographer Mathieu Asselin will discuss his photobook Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation and answers any questions you may have on Instagram Live.

Every Sunday afternoon at 3:30PM, the BDC will broadcast an informal conversation on Instagram Live with some of our favorite photobook authors and designers. We’ll discuss concepts, processes, production choices, and more. Find us on Instagram @bronxdocumentarycenter

Asselin's photobook published by Actes Sud is a damning examination of Monsanto’s ecological impact on America, through archival documents and photographs. Throughout the US, dozens of sites have been classified as sensitive zones by the Federal Environmental Agency because of Monsanto’s activities. Asselin spent five years documenting the fallout from Monsanto’s corporate impunity, gathering materials, interviewing those affected and portraying the locations devastated by the company.

 

 

For Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation, the Franco- Venezuelan photographer Mathieu Asselin was awarded the Aperture Foundation First Book Award in 2017, the Dummy Book Award Kassel 2016, and a special mention for the Luma Rencontres Dummy Book Award 2016 at the Rencontres de la Photographie (Arles), his book is shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation 2018.

BIO
Mathieu Asselin (FR/VEN, ˚1973) works and lives between Arles in France and New York City. He began his career working on film productions in Caracas, Venezuela, but shaped his photography practice in the United States. His work mainly consists out of long-term investigative documentary projects, such as his latest book ‘Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation’, which received international acclaim, winning the Kassel FotoBook Festival Dummy Award in 2016, the Aperture Foundation First Book Award in 2017 and has been shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize in 2018. Les Rencontre d'Arles in France, Photographer’s Gallery in London, Fotomuseum Antwerp in Belgium and the European Parliament in Strasbourg are amongst recent venues where his work has been exhibited.

HEADER PHOTO: David Roddick. Most of us have some PCBs in our blood. The average level is 2 parts per billion. In a survey of 3,000 West Anniston residents (Whose blood was tested for the lawsuit), more than a third of the population have levels greater than 10 parts per billion. Take David Roddick, who is suffering from multiple health problems like diabetes and respiratory deficiency. West Anniston, Alabama. © Mathieu Asselin

INTERIOR PHOTOS (L-R): Heather Bowser describes herself as a child of Agent Orange. She was born with several fingers and part of her right leg missing. Her father, Bill Morris, fought in Vietnam and was exposed to Agent Orange. Canefield, Ohio. © Mathieu Asselin; Kelly's daily medication. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 2012. ©  Mathieu Asselin