François Le Diascorn

François Le Diascorn

Restoration of a Coelacanth at the Natural History Museum, Paris, 1994. Coelacanths are an ancient group of lobe-finned fish. Their fossil record goes back 400 million years before land vertebrates had evolved. They inhabit the seas around the Comoro islands off the east coast of Africa.

François Le Diascorn (b. 1947) is a French photographer who originally trained in law and political science, but chose photography after a trip to India in 1971. In 1978, he joined VIVA photo agency in Paris and moved to RAPHO in 1986. 

Le Diascorn has traveled extensively, documenting India, Southeast Asia, the Greek islands, Venice, Paris, and the United States. His work often focuses on angels, religious and pagan festivals, children, animals, unusual landscapes, and other extraordinary subjects.

He has received numerous awards, including the Angénieux prize and grants from the French Ministry of Culture and the Leonard da Vinci Foundation. His photographs are held in major collections such as the Bibliothèque Nationale, Cartier Foundation, MEP, and the Pompidou Center. Books include Only in America (2010) and Only in Paris (2014). In 2019, he donated his archives to the French Médiathèque du Patrimoine et de la Photographie.