Recognized today as a vital figure in contemporary French photography, André Villers transformed a personal health crisis into a lifelong, celebrated artistic calling.
André Villers, born in 1930 in Beaucourt, near Belfort, is a photographer and visual artist whose work has marked the history of contemporary photography. At the age of 22, he was diagnosed with bone tuberculosis and spent eight years in the sanatorium at Vallauris, a stay that would prove decisive for his artistic career. It was during this period that he developed a passion for photography, taking his first images of the town and its inhabitants in 1952.
In 1984, he published Photobiographie, a text tracing his personal career, his artistic approach and his relationship with Picasso, in a special issue of Cahiers du Sud dedicated to him. His work was hailed by the critics and earned him numerous awards, including the prestigious title Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2006.
Villers' work is now housed in several major museums, including the Musée Nicéphore-Niépce in Chalon-sur-Saône and the Musée de la Photographie in Charleroi, Belgium. In 1992 and 1993, he exhibited at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rennes. The Musée de la Photographie Charles Nègre in Nice hosted a retrospective in his honor in 2000. In 1986, a museum dedicated to his work was opened in Mougins, in the Alpes-Maritimes.