Jerome Gence has been published in Paris Match, Le Figaro Magazine, Stern, National Geographic, Le Monde, and other magazines. He is also a Canon Ambassador but, surprisingly, does not have an Instagram or Facebook page because he dislikes (no pun intended) all social media.
From Reunion Island to the Himalayas
Gence grew up on Reunion Island, an overseas department of France. When at school, a visiting lecturer showed them photos of the Himalayas, his first experience with the outside world growing up.
The next step was graduate school in Paris followed by a comfortable life as a data analyst.
In 2013, he quit his job, left his life in Paris, and embarked on a two-year overland journey to Nepal via Italy, Iran, Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Central Asia, Mongolia, China, Thailand, and Myanmar, with other stops along the way. The travel mode, with a tent in accompaniment, was hitchhiking, or whatever was available.
Bhutan. 2014
Dolpa. Nepal. 2015
The day after he arrived in Nepal in 2015, a strong earthquake killed 9,000 people, and he still wonders how and why he escaped. By coincidence, he met French photographer Eric Valli, who gave him photography direction by telling him: “you have ‘amazing eyes,’ but that is not enough – you must tell a story.” This statement has completely guided Gence in his photographic career.
“ I had no idea how to tell a story, so Eric gave me a lot of photo books to show me how. He told me to find a topic as there are so many photographers who go to war, to environmental or social issues to try to find a niche that would get them spotted by an editor…”
Becoming the photojournalist of the Virtual World
“One day, while I was traveling in China, I discovered by chance the concept of live streamers,” says the itinerant photographer.
Gence immediately spotted his next assignment, a kitschy, colorful world full of lighting/video effects that are used to attract lonely people — Livestreamers: The Geishas of the Internet. He traveled for 8-9 months through China, Korea, and Japan to document this business that preys on people’s loneliness.
Stories & Publications
Next, Gence went to Visa Pour L’Image in 2018, the biggest photojournalism festival where he showed it to a photo editor. Soon it was in Le Figaro Magazine, Stern, Le Monde, Paris Match National Geographic etc.
Among his others stories : “Virtual Singers : I love a Hologram” in 2019, “Telework”, in 2021 has been screened and exhibited at Visa pour l’Image.
“Actually, I don’t have Instagram or Facebook, and I don’t want to put my work on social media,” says the photographer.” So, the only way to put my work in front of an editor was to attend Visa Pour L’Image .
In 2024, the photojournalism festival will exhibited his new story “The Screen Generation”.
Becoming Canon ambassador with no social media
Anyone can attend a portfolio review at Visa Pour l’Image by filling out a form. I remember a review with Sarah Leen, the director of photography for National Geographic. She started with, “You have 15 minutes to show me your work.”
“She stood up after 15 minutes, stretched out her hand in congratulations, and gave me her email. Two months later, I received a message from National Geographic, and at first, I thought it was spam. But it was an actual invitation from National Geographic Storytellers Summit in Washington, DC.”
After I presented at the Nat Geo Summit, Canon selected me as an Ambassador in 2020,” the photographer continues.
“What excites me is to go in search of a story that I would never imagine existed. I also like the risk of coming home without having found anything. I need to be surprised. It is something more and more difficult in a world where we are harassed by content and notifications.”
Original Interview by Phil Mistry on PetaPixel