Biography
Stéphane Malassine was born in France and raised in the United States, making him a first-generation American photographer. His journey into photography began during his teenage years, shortly after relocating to California. Not yet fluent in English, he turned to observation as a way to understand his new environment—studying people’s gestures, behaviors, and movements. Everything was unfamiliar: the shapes, the sounds, the rhythm of life around him. With a camera in hand, he began wandering the streets of San Francisco, drawn to the unusual and the overlooked.
In the mid-1990s, Stéphane moved to Southern California to formally pursue his passion at the renowned Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. After completing his studies, he relocated to New York City, where he quickly became sought after by top fashion and celebrity photographers to design lighting solutions, all while continuing to nurture his own photographic vision.
Driven by an insatiable curiosity and a deep fascination with light, time, movement, and human presence, Stéphane’s personal work spans several decades and genres. From street life and urban landscapes to minimalist and conceptual imagery, his photography is a thoughtful exploration of perception, emotion, and the human experience.
One of Stéphane’s favorite quotes—reflecting his belief in the power of perspective and inner vision—comes from Henry David Thoreau:
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”
Artist Statement
For over three decades, my journey through photography has been a quiet dialogue with the world—beginning on the streets, amidst the unpredictability of human life, and evolving into the silent, contemplative spaces of nature and abstraction. Today, I practice fine art photography with a focus on minimal landscapes and conceptual forms, rendered exclusively in black and white.
My work is guided by the belief that less is more. Influenced deeply by the Japanese principles of wabi-sabi and danshari, I seek beauty in impermanence, simplicity, and restraint. Each frame is an invitation to slow down, to observe the subtle interplay of light and shadow, and to explore the emotional terrain that exists between absence and presence.
Photography, for me, is a philosophical act. It is not just about what is seen, but what is felt—and often, what is left unsaid. Through purity of form and tonal nuance, I aim to create spaces where viewers can pause and reflect, questioning not just the image, but their own perceptions of reality, time, and self.
In a world of constant noise, my images are meant to be quiet encounters—meditations on the essence of things.