Léonard de Selva grew up in Sarzeau, Brittany as one of nine children. After moving to Paris, Selva began working in Paris as an apprentice labourer before being employed by commercial photographer Jean-Pierre Sudre. Sudre introduced Selva to the camera and showed him how to retouch and repaint with a brush. As well as spending hours in the lab discovering the secrets of photography, Léonard de Selva travelled across France and the world photographing landscapes and people to illustrate tourist guides, reviews and magazines. His first exhibition at the Cantini Museum in Marseille in 1968 was followed by more in Paris, Montreal, Seoul, Vietnam, Arles, Vichy and Saint-Malo. Selva passed away in March 2023, leaving behind a vibrant and varied archive. 'In a society where you don’t understand anything, if you go slowly, you can talk to the whole world’, ‘a photographer is a curious walker of the eye’ - Léonard de Selva'