Born on the 16th June, 1964, in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Patrick Taberna began taking photographs during extensive travels to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the United States with the book L’usage du Monde by Nicolas Bouvier in his pocket. Shortly after his arrival in Paris in 1987, he became a regular at a Parisian photography club, 'Les 30×40.'

 

In 1997, he embarked upon an exhibition by post: ‘Passage to the West.’ Ten people each received 37 photos, at a rate of one per week, to thank them for giving him a taste for travel and photography. This adventure enabled him in particular to correspond with Bernard Plossu and Robert Frank. He met Frank in April 1999.

 

Patrick Taberna won the Fnac honourable mention in 2000 with ‘Magnetic North’, the Fnac Photography Award Paris in 2001 with ‘Our Italies,’ and was awarded the HSBC Photography Prize in 2004 with ‘Au fil des jours.’

 

Taberna has developed a technique that encompasses two styles: His black and white works offer dark and velvety tones, conveying time standing still in an uncertain world of enigmatic objects and dreamy characters. Scenes are seemingly tranquil but filled with unvoiced concerns. His use of color reminds viewers of the beautiful remains of summer and a combination of periods: childhood and games, travelling, landscapes momentarily inhabited; images of a past that is not regarded with nostalgia, but rather as a source of wealth that impregnates the present.