Laban-Mattei Olivier

Olivier Laban-Mattei has been a photojournalist since 1999. After ten years with Agence France-Presse covering French and international news (wars in Iraq, Georgia and Gaza, the insurrection in Iran, earthquakes in Java and Haiti, cyclones in Burma…), he embarked on long-term projects in 2010, devoting most of his work to examining the destabilization of societies caused by war, climate change, or the exploitation of natural resources by foreign investors. New forms of colonialism are also central to his concerns. In 2013, he joined the MYOP agency, of which he remains a member. Between 2012 and 2016, he worked with UNHCR on war trauma among refugee (Jordan, Cameroon, Chad) and internally displaced (Central African Republic) populations. In 2016, he reported for Le Monde on the ethnic cleansing in Malakal, South Sudan, followed by the siege of Taiz in Yemen in 2017. Between 2016 and 2019, he directed the documentary film Apnée, focusing on the psychological trauma of a rape survivor (broadcast nationally on France 3). In 2020, he directed the medium-length documentary Sociologie du confinement en quatre jours et deux saisons, exploring how the Parisian population adapted to the first lockdown. In 2021, he worked with Echo (European Commission) on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the Rohingya population in Bangladesh. That same year, he received a BnF grant to investigate the new peasantry in France, a project he continues to pursue. In 2024, he directed a film for Echo on food security in Yemen. In 2025, he collaborated with researchers from the University of Rennes on substandard housing in the town of Guingamp. He continues to work with both French and international press. His work has received numerous awards, including three World Press Photo awards, and has been widely exhibited. Since 2025, he has been a Sony ambassador.