David Fathi
About David Fathi
David Fathi is a French photographer and engineer who lives and works in Paris. After obtaining a Master's degree in Mathematics and Computer Science, he decided to pursue an artistic career alongside his engineering career. This dual activity is reflected in his passion for science and the limits of knowledge in his photographic work.
Photographic approach of David Fathi
"[T]wo viewpoints to make sense of the world". In this way David Fathi describes his guiding line.
His work, be it still or moving image, takes root in various archives and visual databases, depending on the subject, blurring the appropriationist work in the boundaries between documentary and contemporary art. With an intense passion for odd and conflicting facts, David Fathi often tackles them with a biting sense of humor. He hijacks images and reveals gaps and absurdities in the stories he recounts: a subversive visual critique.
David Fathi pulls back the curtain, to open up meaning to what is behind the scenes : to counteract documented proof as much as to create new information. At the crossroads of solemnity, banalty and absurdity, his images assert themselves as political.
Exhibitions and Residencies
David Fathi has presented his work in numerous exhibitions in Europe and beyond, marking many important events in the world of photography. His work has been exhibited in prestigious venues in Paris, such as Maison Auguste Comte and Photo Saint-Germain, as well as in Arles, where he took part in the famous Les Rencontres d'Arles event. In Belgium, he has exhibited at La Galerie Particulière in Brussels and at Nucleus, as part of the Noorderlicht Festival in Groningen, the Netherlands. Internationally, he has also exhibited at Fotografia Europea in Reggio Emilia, Italy, and at the Fotofest Biennial in Houston, USA.
His projects have found particular resonance at photography festivals such as Fotofestiwal in Lodz, where he presented The Last Road of the Immortal Woman, and at the Circulation(s) Festival in Paris, a major event on the European photography scene.
His work has also been recognised on several occasions through various awards. In 2016 he won several significant awards, including the Grand Prix at the Fotofestiwal in Lodz, as well as the Photo Folio Review at Rencontres d'Arles. In 2015 he won the Photocaptionist Award at Format Festival in Derby and in the same year he was a finalist for the Le BAL Prix de la Jeune Photographie with ADAGP. In 2014, he won the Rock Your Dummy Award at PhotobookFest, a distinction honouring innovation and creativity in the field of photographic books.
David Fathi is part of the groupshow Aimagine - Photography and generative images at Hangar from January to June 2025.
Art Book publications by David Fathi
David Fathi has published several books that complement and extend his photographic work. In 2023, he presented The Machine Seems to Need a Ghost, published by l'Artiere, followed by Prelude to the Broken RAM in 2022, also published by l'Artiere. In 2018, he reissued his book Wolfgang in a second edition with Skinnerboox, following an initial publication in 2016. Earlier, in 2015, he published Anecdotal with Maria Inc.
