Photography has become a lifelong passion for Marie Hyvernaud. A self-taught photographer, Marie first learned the craft from her brother and then at a community center (MJC). She furthered her training by participating in workshops, notably with Jean Dieuzaide. She has practised extensively, initially with film cameras and later with digital ones. This has resulted in a strong interest in black and white photography, whether for portraits, street scenes, or to capture particular atmospheres. Marie Hyvernaud has had the opportunity to participate in festivals and make wonderful connections, resulting in solo and group exhibitions. She regularly shares her work in progress with a research group in Carcassonne.

Marie Hyvernaud's documentary photographs are meant to document the life of communities and the bonds forged between their members. She has extensively photographed the hearing-impaired community and communication in sign language; more recently, she has explored the farming community and its struggles to keep traditions alive. She also visited a mountain village where she created a gallery of portraits of its inhabitants, revealing the soul of each individual, allowing us to glimpse the secrets of their lives. Marie Hyvernaud loves to photograph bodies in motion, capturing their beauty, movement, and physical ease and agility, like that of dancers. She has also conveyed the grace of sign language in her photographs, as seen in her recent work, Resonance.

As you might have guessed, what appeals to this photographer is ordinary people, the people we often overlook; this is how rural life and disability came to resonate with her. Above all, Marie seeks light, authenticity, and a profound emotional connection with the people she photographs. Capturing the moment is her passion, to the point of making the invisible visible.

• Her latest exhibitions:
Waiting for the snow - Rangueil University Hospital Cultural Centre, Toulouse, October 2025; Maison de ma région, Carcassonne, November 2024; Quinzaine de l'image, Montbourguet, July 2024
Tango - Springtime of Notes in Alairac, March 2025
Resonance - Galerie Le Temps de pose Sorèze 2021, Reus Catalonia summer 2025
Portraits of the local area - La Forestière, Photographic Space in Caunes Minervois 2023
Trees in the mist - Springtime of the Tree in Revel 2022

• Participation in festivals:
Selected for the Uzès Biennale, May 2025 with In the land of fat
Two participations in the amateur photo festival in Arles with Portraits of the local area and the other with Confidences
Several participations in the Visa Off in Perpignan, and a first prize in 2014 with The Hands Have the Floor
Three appearances at the Phot'Aubrac festival
First prize in the Traditions competition at the Toulouse Museum in 2020

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© Pierre Bacquey