France Bourély is an explorer and photographer of the nanospace. She calls herself a contemplative biologist.
In 1985, after a doctorate in pharmacy from the university of Paris, France Bourély won first prize in an international science competition (the Honewell Futurist Competition) and thus obtained a scholarship for the University of California, Berkeley. There she studied botany and plant cell morphogenesis, and got a Master's degree in 1987.
It was also at Berkeley that she first discovered the scanning electron microscope, using it for her research into the origin of forms.
Passionate about nature photography, (arctic, jungles...), she won a photographic prize in a Leitz-Leica competition.
She discovered a passion for black and white photography, thanks to images by Ansel Adams and Weston. Armed with a Nikon, she went camping in the Arctic for several months. On her return to Paris, while continuing another career, she took a year course in traditional silver printing with Georges Fèvre, Cartier-Bresson's and Doisneau's favorite developper. She chose to apply her scientific knowledge to photographing the invisible, a largely unexplored and beautiful territory.
As a scientist turned artist, she shared her artwork internationally through many international exhibits (Arles, Paris, New-York, Rome, New-Delhi, Prague…)
In 2002, She published a book "Hidden Beauty, microworlds revealed", Abrams Inc.[1] and then took a few years break to devote herself to her family.
Since 2016, she vastly expanded her collection of photographs. She also gave conferences in biomimicry, showing not only the harmony but the treasures of inspiration which engineers can find at the micron and nanometer level.
France Bourély is member of the Société des explorateurs français (SEF)
(1) « Mondes Invisibles » Ed. de La Martinière and .“Unsichtbarewelten” Gerstenberg
France Bourély learned her expertise on a manual electron microscope with cathode ray screen at UC Berkeley (now considered an antique). She then worked on many different prototypes and models from Cambridge instruments, to Leo, Leica, and Zeiss. She is part of the LNMC laboratory of the Brain&Mind institute of EPFL. She currently works on the sophisticated Gemini-Zeiss of Cime-EPFL.
Since 2020, France Bourély started again her missionto reveal the InvisibleA long time advocate of nature’s fragility, sheintends to continue her passion, dedicating herself to raise consciousness andshow how “nothing is insignificant and nothing is useless”.
France Bourély can be described as a philosopher, a scientist, an artist, and a navigator all at once. This amazing book opens the door to a hidden paradise, revealing the startling beauty of the microscopic dimension that surrounds us all. By transporting us to the lands of the unseen, Bourély seeks to awaken our senses and transform the way we perceive our infinitely complex and always harmonious universe.
Louvre, Paris
Main personal exhibits :
July 1994 Palais des Congrès, ICEM, Paris
July / August 1995 Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles
February / March 1996 LEICA Gallery, New York USA
February / June 1997 Prestige Television Gallery, Paris
May / October 1997 Palais de la Découverte, Paris
January / February 1998 French Image Technology, New Delhi, India
March 1998 Salon MEDEC, Paris
October 1998 FNAC Gallery, Toulouse
May 1999 I Cortili Aperti, Palazzo Taverna, Roma Italy
April / May 2000 Carrousel du Louvre, Paris
November 2000 J.I.B. Palais du CNIT, Paris
December 2000 Maison du Loir et Cher, Blois
April 2001 Salon du Livre Palexpo, Geneva Switzerland
Main collective exhibits :
September 1996 Institut Français de Prague, Czech Republic
July 1998 Festival d'Art Contemporain, Spoleto, Italy
November 1998 Paris Photo, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris
February 1999 New-York Photography Exhibitions, USA
April - October 2022 Musée de la Vieille Charité, MAM, Marseille
