Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Benoit Linero grew up in Les Sables-d'Olonne, facing the ocean, where he forged a sensitive, deeply cinematic eye. After several years as a television journalist, he returned, self-taught and driven, to his first love: photography.
Before long, magazines such as Condé Nast Traveler, L'Œil, Milk and Casa da Abitare opened their pages to him and sent him to the four corners of the world. His meeting with the team at Be-pôles (A.S.L) gave rise to Chamonix, his first personal book, published in the "Portraits de Villes" collection.
A photographer of subtlety, he captures the soul of exceptional places: the NoMad hotels in the United States, the Badrutt's Palace in St. Moritz, Les Roches Rouges, L'Eldorado, all the way to the most beautiful boats in the world. He celebrates the craftsmanship of manufacturers such as Caran d'Ache in Switzerland and Gmund in Germany, and works regularly with the Hermès Horizons studio.
Michelin-starred chefs and artisans of taste call on his eye to illustrate their books: Eric Frechon, Christophe Vasseur, Stéphanie Le Quellec and Christophe Aribert, with whom he won first prize at the Festival International de l'Image Culinaire. He is also a winner of the Leica Solidaire competition.
His world is recognizable at first glance: masterful chiaroscuro, sharp contrasts, enigmatic blurs, where light always seems to tell a story.
In his work, he seeks to explore matter in an almost pictorial sense. Chiaroscuro offers him the truest way to approach it: suggesting rather than revealing, allowing shadow to hold back and light to barely touch, while preserving the image’s share of mystery.
Observing is not enough. One has to listen inward, trust oneself, stay spontaneous, and accept that a part of the unknown, sometimes of error, will enter the image. It is often what makes it true.
"Photography is for me an obsession, it is vital, it is the marker of my life."
