Sébastien Laval is a photographer living in Poitiers, France. Introduced to photography as a young man by his grandfather in Paris, he quickly developed a passion for documenting the life around him. In the early ’90s, Laval had an opportunity to travel to Vietnam. Traveling throughout the country, he quickly developed a deep interest in documenting the lives of the ethnic minorities living in the remote regions of Vietnam.
Realizing how this style of life and these rare groups would soon be extinct, Laval began a serious study and body of work portraying a way of life that was rapidly disappearing.

Laval has presented his work on the ethnic minorities at the prestigious Hue Festival in 2008 and in 2010.
His most recent body of work is in color, Hanoi by Night, photographs taken in a 12-hour period from 18:00h to 6:00h. Using a digital camera with no artificial light, these works present a very painterly, mysterious atmosphere of the magic of Hanoi at night.

Laval’s work was chosen by the French government to be shown at the historical L’Orangerie du Sénat in the Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, France, in June 2014 for the festival celebrating 40 years of diplomatic relations between France and Vietnam.

Born 1973 in France, conceived in Madagascar