Scarlett Coten

Scarlett Coten is a French photographer known for her exploration of themes of identity, gender, and intimacy through intimate portraits that challenge stereotypes and cultural expectations.
Her artistic practice favors an immersive, documentary approach, enriched by a fictional dimension inspired by cinema, which bypasses the codes of the genre, notably through staging and precisely selecting natural settings.

Coten uses a distinctive style, blending vivid colors and thoughtful compositions to create aesthetically captivating and deeply meaningful images.
Her body of work reflects a profound connection between the artist and her subjects, inviting viewers to reflect on the complexities of identity and social dynamics.
Drawing from her life experiences, as a woman in society and as an artist, the photographer takes a unique gaze on issues that are both personal and universal, such as art, power, the traditional divide between author and subject, the real and the imaginary.

A winner of the 2024 Support for contemporary documentary photography from the National Center for the Visual Arts (Cnap), and of the Grande Commande 2022 from the Ministry of Culture, Coten has received other prestigious honors, including the Leica Oskar Barnack Award in 2016, the Critical Mass TOP 50 in 2018, and Photography Now 21 from the Center for Photography at Woodstock.

Coten's impactful works are showcased in French public collections and international exhibitions. Her 2009 debut monograph, Still Alive, published by Actes Sud, as well as her contributions to numerous anthologies and exhibition catalogs, solidify her enduring influence on the photographic landscape.