Getting To Know Fabien Charuau
Fabien Charuau is a French-born artist and architectural photographer living in Mumbai. He is known for his thoughtful approach to architectural photography and his innovative digital artworks.
Fabien Charuau’s Photographic Style
As an architectural photographer, He captures more than just buildings—he reveals the emotional and cultural stories behind them. His photographs highlight how spaces reflect the identities, aspirations, and interactions of people who create and inhabit them. Working closely with leading architects and designers, Charuau creates visually rich narratives that emphasize form, materiality, and human experience within built environments.
Courtesy – Fabien Charuau
Founder of Studio Charuau, his studio operates throughout South Asia. They are known for projects that range from editorial photography to collaborations with architects and designers. His work demonstrates a careful balance between technical proficiency and artistic creativity. He has also photographed residential areas, churches, and contemporary art venues. Fabien collaborates closely with clients to realize their vision while infusing his creative insight.
Courtesy – Fabien Charuau
Fabien Charuau’s Digital Art
He is not only a sought-after photographer but also an artist. He explores digital culture using generative art—artworks created through algorithms and computational processes. For his work, he has been at the centre of numerous art discourses. Projects like Send Some Candids (2011), use algorithms to transform digital images into abstract forms, highlighting how images gain new meanings once uploaded online. By embracing the unpredictability of generative methods, Charuau questions our relationship with digital technology and reveals the hidden complexity behind networked images.
Courtesy – Fabien Charuau
Another project, The Stumble Asleep (2010), was in the limelight at the Matthieu Foss Gallery in Mumbai for its accurate representation of rural Indian men, while A Thousand Kisses Deep (2015), which first made rounds at Chatterjee & Lal is a testament to the beauty found within the overwhelming influx of digital imagery. In Ways of the Road (2013), Fabien Charuau integrated photography with new media to investigate voyeurism and societal conventions.
Courtesy – Fabien Charuau
Both his architectural photography and digital art practices share a common interest in complexity, perception, and the shifting meanings of visual information. Fabien Charuau’s work has been exhibited internationally, continuing to challenge traditional views of photography by positioning algorithms as creative collaborators in his artistic process.
Courtesy – Fabien Charuau
Image – Rhetoric of the JPEG – # 3 (2024). Courtesy – Fabien Charuau
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