1992
Through his camera lens, photographer Gérard Uféras offers a rarified backstage pass to the world’s top operas, ballets and fashion shows. Described as a storyteller and magician, Uféras shoots contemporary, figurative photographs that evoke sensuality, mystery, elegance and grace, with a rich sense of humanism.
Born in Paris, in 1954, Uféras was introduced to photography at the tender age of eight, when he began using his father’s cameras. At 11 years old, he was a regular visitor to Paris’s museums, soaking in all aspects of the arts, culture and history.
Although Uféras’s passion for photography began at an early age, it wasn’t until he was 28 — when he was working in a retail shop selling jeans — that he decided to pursue it as a professional career. “I simply didn’t know what I was doing with my life,” he has said. “For a few years at that point, I had a job that didn’t bring me any joy. . . . I realized that if I don’t do something to change my life, I will die working in that shop, so it was really a ‘matter of life’ decision.”
Despite being largely self-taught, Uféras’s natural photographic talent soon caught the eyes of French newspaper editors. He began his career as a photojournalist in 1984, working for the daily Libération, and in 1986, he became a founding member of the VU photo agency. Then, in 1988, Uféras’s watershed moment came when he was invited backstage to photograph at The Palais Garnier. Since then, he has captured stunning portraits and still-lifes at opera houses and ballet performances across Europe.
Similarly, Uféras has been given carte-blanche access to major fashion houses such as Givenchy and Dior, resulting in beautifully shot, candid photographs of unposed models.
Throughout his career, Uféras’s black-and-white and color photographs have been featured in numerous international publications, including Le Monde, the New York Times, Beaux Arts magazine, Paris Match and L’Express. His works are in the collections in several major museums, such as The National Gallery in London, the Musée de l’Elysée (Photo Elysée) in Lausanne, the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris.
On 1stDibs, find a range of Gérard Uféras photography.
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Arena di Verona, Italie IV - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
In this atmospheric photograph, Gérard Uféras captures the Arena di Verona under rain, where umbrellas, wet seats, and attentive spectators create a richly textured visual field. A m...
Silver Gelatin
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Arena di Verona, Italie I - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
This dynamic black and white photograph by Gérard Uféras captures the audience at the Arena di Verona, turning the spectators themselves into a theatrical spectacle. Women peer throu...
Silver Gelatin
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Arena di Verona, Italie III - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
This black and white photograph by Gérard Uféras captures a seated couple in the foreground of the Arena di Verona, surrounded by a vast and softly blurred audience. Their close post...
Silver Gelatin
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Arena di Verona, Italie V - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
This dramatic black and white photograph by Gérard Uféras reveals performers resting backstage at the Arena di Verona. Dressed in ornate costumes, one figure reclines in shadow while...
Silver Gelatin
Un Fantôme à L'Opéra, Arena di Verona - Limited Edition Photograph
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
In this deeply tender black and white photograph, Gérard Uféras captures a young girl asleep in the arms of an adult inside the Arena di Verona. Around them, the vast amphitheatre is...
Silver Gelatin
Un Fantôme à L'opéra, Gran Teatro la Fenice II - Limited Edition Photography
By Gérard Uféras
Located in Vienna, AT
In this lively black and white photograph, Gérard Uféras captures a backstage stairwell at Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, where performers or staff carry heavy garments and costume...
Silver Gelatin
Original Photography by Cyrille Druart
By Cyrille Druart
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Black and white original photography by Cyrille Druart. Edition: I/V Dimensions: 120 x 90 cm This picture has been selected for the prestigious Street hotography Magazine Cover (F...
Naples #910 by Jed Fielding, 1978, Silver Gelatin Print, Photography
By Jed Fielding
Located in Denton, TX
Naples #910 by Jed Fielding, 1978 is a silver gelatin print. This photograph depicts a man holding a statue of Bottecelli's The Birth of Venus. The image size is 19 x 12.87 inches an...
Silver Gelatin
St. Peter's Square, Rome, Italy, Black and White Photo, Signed, Edition, 20x16
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
St. Peter's Square, Rome, Italy, 1958 by Leonard Freed is a black and white photograph of two figures (priests) dressed in black on a snowy afternoon, contrasting the falling snow an...
Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
Original Photography Signed by Cyrille Druart
By Cyrille Druart
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Black and white original photography by Cyrille Druart. Edition: I/V Dimensions: 120 x 90 cm Signed and numbered Cyrille Druart is a French photograph and architect, a book about...
Photographic Film
Henri Cartier-Bresson, Rome, Italy, Black and White Print, Signed, c. 1990
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in London, GB
Signed Silver gelatin print, printed circa 1990 Image 17 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches Paper 20 x 15 3/4 inches Henri Cartier-Bresson is perhaps the most significant photographer of the twent...
Silver Gelatin
Rue Mouffetard, Paris. Black and White Photograph . Portrait.
By Uwe Ommer
Located in Miami Beach, FL
1964, Uwe Ommer, a young 20-year-old photographer who recently arrived from Cologne, lives in a small room on Boulevard St-Marcel. Every weekend, he goes to the market on rue Mouffetard...
Black and White, Archival Pigment
