S?dhus: Denis Rouvre

What Denis Rouvre admires about Sâdhus is the way they are in the world, the way they respond to the world, and the way they carry the burden of parallel paths. In non-identity toward extinction, they resist the necessity of their birth. They are born to die, to no longer exist. Every day, individuals defy their common destiny. Among the people whose portraits are exhibited by photographers, we are referring to those who, by their own will and courage, place themselves among the gods.

Denis Rouvre (°1967) is a world class French photographer with an impressive portfolio. Rouvre is a portraitist, whose photos have been published internationally and exhibited and acquired by various museums. He has published several books and has won numerous prizes such as a World Press Photo Award, A Sony Photography Award and a Hasselblad Master Award. Rouvre lives and works in Paris. He began his career as a photo editor and press photographer for the French National Press. Since then, his passion for photography has expanded, with portrait photography becoming his main focus. For the past 20 years, his striking celebrity portraits have graced numerous international magazines. In addition to his celebrity portraits, Rouvre has taken us on various journeys all around the world through his art photography. He has portrayed Sadhus in India along the Ganges, taken us with him on his journey to Senegal to photograph half-god Senegalese wrestlers and taken us to Thailand through his photograph of boxing children. Rouvre’s portraits do not narrate a specific perspective, instead they capture the visible details of a spontaneous gesture or emotion, giving the viewer full interpretive freedom.