Born in 1942, at the age of 12 he began taking photographs of the family farm. After working as a versatile reporter at the Dalmas agency in Paris, in 1966 he co-founded the Gamma agency and started photographing all over the world. Alongside his work as a photographer, he began making documentaries. In 1978, he joined the Magnum agency and continued with investigative journalism until 1981. He was honoured with the National Photography Grand Prize in 1991 and was a co-founder of the production company Palmeraie et désert along with Claudine Nougaret. In 1994, he won the César for Best Documentary for the film Délits flagrants. In 2012, the film he co-directed with Claudine Nougaret, Journal de France, was presented at the Cannes Film Festival.
