Eric Lusito
Eric Lusito is a French documentary-style photographer who works on long-term personal projects. Self-taught, his earliest influences were the artists Bernd and Hilla Becher and Otto Dix.
He was 12 years old when the fall of the Berlin Wall was broadcast live on television. Moved by the joy and tears of the German people finally reunited, he was intrigued by what could be on the other side of the wall. Eager to know and understand, he began to travel through the former communist bloc in the early 2000s. He then travelled from East Germany to Mongolia and from Poland to Kazakhstan in search of once-hidden military sites that embodied the ambition and power of the USSR. His book After the Wall — Traces of the Soviet Empire was published in 2009 by British publisher Dewi Lewis. His photographs have been exhibited in ten countries and covered by the international press — The Guardian, Financial Times, Le Temps, among others.
Travelling in Ukraine at the end of 2021, he met a scientist in the city of Kharkiv who agreed to show him his laboratory. This experience reminded him of the comic books he read as a child and was the starting point for a new project to explore this lesser-known world of science. A few weeks later, the full-scale Russian invasion began. In 2023, Eric returned to Kharkiv to document the situation of scientists. The project has since been extended to include Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Romania and other countries.
Texts & Essays
English
- Francis Conte — Eric Lusito or the "sustained" glance — Preface to After the Wall, Dewi Lewis Publishing
- Ivan de la Nuez — In the Ruins of the Future
Español
Français
- Francis Conte — Eric Lusito ou le regard soutenu — Préface d'After the Wall, Dewi Lewis Publishing
- Entretien avec Yves Marchand, Romain Meffre et Henri Peyre — Galerie Photo
- Christophe Blaser — Musée de l'Élysée — Préface du portfolio Chez Higgins
- Hadrien Le Gray — Images Magazine — Les photographes réinventent le paysage
- Anne-Marie Monluçon, Anna Saignes et Agathe Salha — Recherches & Travaux — La chute de l'URSS, une fin d'empire
Solo Exhibitions
- INSTITUTES, A Science Odyssey, Galerie Chez Arthur & Janine, Arles, France, 2024
- Il est une fois Meknès, Institut Français, Meknès, Morocco, 2013
- Traces of the Soviet Empire, Festival Photofolies, Rodez, France, 2012
- Traces of the Soviet Empire, Latvian Museum of Photography, Riga, Latvia, 2012
- Traces of the Soviet Empire, Quai n°1, Vevey, Switzerland, 2012
- Traces of the Soviet Empire, Kaunas Photo Gallery, Lithuania, 2011
- Traces of the Soviet Empire, Galerie Chez Arthur & Janine, Arles, France, 2011
- L'URSS et la construction du mythe héroïque, University Paris IV Sorbonne, France, 2009
- Traces of the Soviet Empire, GIM Galerie im Medienhaven, Bremen, Germany, 2008
- Traces of the Soviet Empire, 4th Triennale of Photography, Hamburg, Germany, 2008
- Traces of the Soviet Empire, Centre d'Art et de Photographie NegPos, Nîmes, France, 2007
Selected Group Exhibitions
- 12ème Nuit de la Photo, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, 2025
- Archifoto, rétrospective, Halles du Scilt, Schiltigheim, France, 2019
- Power and Architecture: Dead space and ruins, Calvert 22 Foundation, London, UK, 2016
- Archifoto 12, Architecture sans frontière, Centre culturel français de Freiburg, Germany, 2015
- Atomic Surplus, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2013
- Histoires et géographies, FRAC Bretagne, Rennes, France, 2013
- Archifoto 12, Architecture sans frontière, HEAR, Mulhouse, France, 2013
- Paul Kopeikin Juried Exhibition, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, Massachusetts, 2012
- Young Portfolio Acquisitions 2011, Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Japan, 2012
- Archifoto 12, Architecture sans frontière, La Chambre, Strasbourg, France, 2012
- Evening Projections, Palm Springs Photo Festival, California, 2012
- Nuit de la photo — 70ème Biennale d'Art Contemporain, Musée des Beaux-arts, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, 2012
- 17ème Salon des Peintres de l'Armée, Musée de l'Armée, Hôtel des Invalides, Paris, France, 2011
- Mémoires de pierres, Institut Français, Meknès, Morocco, 2011
- Forbidden Places, Bursa Photofest, Turkey, 2011
- Collection hiemale, Galerie Baudoin Lebon, Paris, France, 2010
- Prix PX3, Espace Dupon, Paris, France, 2010
- Artistes voyageurs, Galerie de La Scala, Paris, France, 2010
- Slideshow Night, The Annenberg Space of Photography, Los Angeles, California, 2010
- Prix Voies Off, Arles, France, 2009
- Les visas de l'ANI, le Floréal, Paris, France, 2008
- Photoreportage, Galerie Roger Portugal, Nantes, France, 2006
Public Collections
- FRAC Bretagne, Rennes, France
- K*MoPA, Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Kiyosato, Japan
- MuCEM, Museum of Civilisations from Europe and the Mediterranean, Marseille, France
- Nuit de la Photo, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
Monographs
- Soviet Scientific Institutes, FUEL Publishing, 2026
- After the Wall — Traces of the Soviet Empire, Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2009
Books & Catalogues
- 12ème Nuit de la Photo, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, 2025
- Shifting Forms of Continental Colonialism, Schorkowitz, Chávez, Schröder, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019
- The Book of Images: A dictionary of visual experiences, Images Vevey — Koenig Books, 2019
- Les chemins d'Odessa, Cahiers slaves n°14, Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 2016
- A Republic of Art, French Regional Collections of Contemporary Art, Van Abbemuseum, 2015
- 5×5 Quai N°1, Biollay Raphaël & Stoll Stefano, Vevey, 2014
- El comunista manifiesto, Iván de la Nuez, Galaxia Gutenberg, 2013
- La chute de l'URSS : une fin d'Empire, Recherches & Travaux n°80, UGA éditions, 2012
- FRAC Bretagne : la collection 1997–2011, LienArt éditions, 2012
- YP'11 Photographs by the Next Generation, K*MoPA, Kiyosato, 2011
- 4. Triennale der Photographie Hamburg 2008, Dölling und Galitz Verlag, 2008
Publications
Science, Physics World, Ciel&Espace, Le Monde, The Guardian, Financial Times, Business Insider, The Boston Globe, Le Temps, Lenta.ru, Port, Metro, The Calvert Journal, Forces TV, Images Magazine, Art World, PDN…
Awards
- Prix du jury, La Nuit de la Photo, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, 2025
- Best Photo Books, PDN Photo Annual, 2010
- Best Photo Book, Prix de la Photographie de Paris PX3, 2010
- The Year's Best Photography Book, PhotoEspaña, shortlisted, 2010
- Kaunas Photo Star, 2010